Preview: Derby County vs. Luton Town - prediction, team news, lineups

Derby County will be looking to end a seven-game winless run in the Championship when they welcome an in-form Luton Town to Pride Park on Friday afternoon.

The Rams, who lost at Stoke City before the international break, are currently 19th in the table, five points above the relegation zone, while Luton occupy 13th spot in England's second tier.

Match preview

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There is no getting away from the fact that it has been a tough campaign for Derby, who are currently battling to remain above the relegation zone in the Championship.

A record of 10 wins, 10 draws and 18 defeats from 38 matches has seen the Rams collect 40 points, which is only good enough for 19th position, and they are only five points ahead of the bottom three.

Wayne Rooney's side are actually without a victory in the league since a 2-0 success over Huddersfield Town on February 23, losing four and drawing three of their last seven matches in the second tier.

Derby will certainly be wary of suffering another poor result on Friday ahead of two difficult matches with sixth-placed Reading and runaway leaders Norwich City.

The Rams have lost their last two Championship matches with Luton, including a 2-1 defeat in the reverse game earlier this season, but they won 2-0 when the pair last locked horns at Pride Park in October 2019.

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Luton, meanwhile, have won their last two in the league, following a 2-0 success at home to Coventry City on March 16 with a 1-0 victory away to Preston North End before the international break.

Nathan Jones's side are currently 13th in the table, 15 points clear of the relegation zone but 12 points off the top six, meaning that they do not have an awful lot to play for at this stage of the campaign.

A playoff push is not impossible, but a lot would have to happen in the coming weeks for that to occur, and all the Hatters can do is keep winning and see where it takes them.

Luton, who finished 19th in the Championship last season, have won seven times on their travels in the Championship this term but have incredibly only scored nine times in 19 away fixtures, which is the worst record in the division.

Team News

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Derby will again be without the services of Krystian Bielik, Curtis Davies and Jordon Ibe on Friday, but Lee Gregory is available, having been unable to face his parent club Stoke last time out.

The Rams are also hopeful that Colin Kazim-Richards will recover from a hip problem in time for the match.

The home side could be without both Kamil Jozwiak and David Marshall, though, with the pair potentially being in action for Poland and Scotland respectively on Wednesday night, less than 48 months before this match.

Tom Lawrence, who has recently recovered from an ankle problem, is in contention to start, with Rooney set to assess the fitness of the Wales attacker in the build up to kickoff.

As for Luton, Daniel Potts, Sonny Bradley and Eunan O'Kane remain unavailable for selection, but the visitors are otherwise in good shape heading into Friday's encounter.

Head coach Jones could decide to select the same side that started against Preston, meaning that Tom Ince and James Collins might have to accept spots on the bench once again.

Collins has been with the Republic of Ireland squad during the international break and was on the scoresheet in his nation's 3-2 defeat to Serbia on March 24.

Derby County possible starting lineup:

Roos; Byrne, Mengi, Clarke, Buchanan; Knight, Bird, Shinnie; Roberts, Gregory, Kazim-Richards

Luton Town possible starting lineup:

Sluga; Bree, Pearson, Naismith, Clark; Ruddock, Rea, Tunnicliffe, Dewsbury-Hall; Cornick, Adebayo

We say: Derby County 1-1 Luton Town

Derby desperately need to return to winning ways as soon as possible, but we are finding it difficult to back the Rams on Friday. Luton have won four of their last six in the Championship during an impressive run of form and will be full of confidence heading into the match. Rooney will have his side fired up for the match, though, and we believe that the home side will secure a share of the spoils.