Preview: Derby County vs Portsmouth - prediction, team news, lineups

Derby County and Portsmouth will both be eyeing back-to-back wins when they lock horns in Saturday's clash at Pride Park.

The Rams are sitting in 12th place in the Championship table, while Pompey are hovering just outside the relegation zone.

Match preview

Derby are currently four points adrift of the top six after winning eight, drawing six and losing seven of their 21 Championship matches.

John Eustace's side have bounced back from consecutive defeats against Middlesbrough and Leicester City to pick up four points from their last two outings.

A late Jake Cooper own goal proved enough to rescue a 1-1 draw against Millwall, before Patrick Agyemang starred with a brace in Monday's away meeting with basement side Sheffield Wednesday.

That result represented Derby's fourth win in five road trips, demonstrating why they currently have the third-highest away points tally in the division.

However, they have struggled to produce a similar run of results in their recent home outings, having failed to win each of their previous three games at Pride Park since beating Hull City on November 4 (D1, L2).

Derby can at least take confidence from the fact that they have won three of their last five home games against Portsmouth, including a resounding 4-0 win in last season's clash at Pride Park.

Portsmouth are sitting a point above the drop zone after moving out of the bottom three with a hard-fought 2-1 home win over Blackburn Rovers last weekend.

Callum Lang struck just past the hour mark to cancel out Yuki Ohashi's opener, before Ibane Bowat completed the turnaround with his first goal in a Portsmouth shirt.

While the result ended their three-game losing run, John Mousinho's side still have work to do on their travels if they are to start progressing up the league table.

Pompey currently have the league's second-longest winless run on the road, having failed to score a victory in any of their past eight road trips since beating Oxford United on the opening day of the season.

In fact, the south coast side have lost each of their last four away matches, conceding at least three goals in three of those contests.

If they are to leave Pride Park with three points, Portsmouth will have to beat Derby in an away game for the first time since recording a 2-1 victory in November 2002.

Derby County Championship form:

L W L L D W

Portsmouth Championship form:

L W L L L W

Team News

Derby remain without midfielder David Ozoh and forward Carlton Morris due to thigh and ankle injuries respectively.

Captain Lewis Travis and defender Max Johnston are on the brink of returning to training, although the pair will not be ready for Saturday's home meeting with Portsmouth.

Eustace is likely to keep changes to a minimum following Monday's win over Sheffield Wednesday, although Callum Elder is an option to start at left-wing back.

As for the visitors, they remain without Josh Knight, Conor Shaughnessy, Jacob Farrell, Connor Ogilvie and Thomas Waddingham.

Defender Regan Poole is in contention after missing the last three games with an ankle problem, while attacker Franco Umeh is said to be close to making a matchday squad for the first time since arriving from Crystal Palace in the summer.

Midfielder Mark Kosznovszky and forward Colby Bishop are both pushing to start after making bright appearances from the bench last weekend.

Derby County possible starting lineup:

Widell Zetterstrom; Langas, Sanderson, Clarke; Ward, Thompson, Clarke, Elder; Brewster; Agyemang, Brereton Diaz

Portsmouth possible starting lineup:

Schmid; Devlin, Matthews, Bowat, Swanson; Kosznovszky, Dozzell; Lang, Chaplin, Murphy; Bishop

We say: Derby County 2-1 Portsmouth

Derby have not lost a home game against Portsmouth in 23 years, and considering they have won three of their last five head-to-head meetings, we think there could be a familiar result in Saturday's fixture

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