Preview: Derby County vs Stoke City - prediction, team news, lineups

Battling to keep their playoff dreams alive, Derby County welcome Midlands counterparts Stoke City to Pride Park for a Championship contest on Monday.

The Rams narrowly lost out during a five-goal thriller with Coventry City on Friday, whilst the Potters made light work of League One-bound Sheffield Wednesday on home soil.

Match preview

After fighting off the distinct threat of relegation last season under the reign of John Eustace, Derby County are aiming to reach loftier heights this term, looking to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2008.

The Rams' hopes of gatecrashing the playoff positions took a significant blow on Friday night, when a brilliant brace from Southampton loanee Ben Brereton Diaz could not prevent Coventry from extending their lead at the top of the division to a staggering 11 points.

Nevertheless, Eustace's troops have impressed in recent times - winning four of their past six second-tier contests - meaning that they remain in contention for the top six, sitting four points behind sixth-placed Wrexham in the Championship table.

Derby will be looking to take full advantage of their three remaining home fixtures before the conclusion of the 46-game regular season, with the Rams winning each of their past four Pride Park matches, conceding just two goals in the process.

With EFL veteran Carlton Morris failing to find the net since the beginning of November - largely down to injury issues - American hotshot Patrick Agyemang has taken the goalscoring reins for Monday's hosts, attracting Premier League interest ahead of the summer window.

Whilst an Alfie Devine double for Preston North End prior to the international break all-but ended Stoke City's faint hopes of reaching the playoffs, there were no signs of complacency from the hosts at the bet365 Stadium on Friday.

Both netting their second goals of the Championship campaign, Crystal Palace loanee Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Lamine Cisse secured a 2-0 success over Sheffield Wednesday, who not have celebrated a victory since a September trip to Portsmouth.

After extending their unbeaten run in Staffordshire to five matches (W3 D2) last time out, Mark Robins's men moved up to 12th spot in the second-tier rankings, 10 points behind the lowest of the playoff positions.

Losing each of their past four Championship away contests, the Potters need to buck up their ideas if they wish to record only their second league victory on the road in 2026 following triumph at Norwich City on January 4.

The recent chapters of the Stoke history book contain details of difficult trips to the East Midlands for this particular fixture, with the Potters failing to win any of their past six outings to Derby, scoring just once over that wretched period.

Derby County Championship form:

W W L W W L

Stoke City Championship form:

L L D W L W

Team News

Derby remain without the services of first-choice goalkeeper Jacob Zetterstrom, who has not featured since January due to a muscle injury.

With Josh Vickers (hamstring) also out of action, Richard O'Donnell is the man in between the sticks for the Rams.

A former Championship Golden Boot winner, Sammie Szmodics is unavailable on Monday because of a head injury sustained whilst on international duty for the Republic of Ireland.

Stoke are also battling on without their leading man in net, with shot-stopper Viktor Johansson recovering from a shoulder problem.

Quickly becoming a veteran of this division, defender Ben Wilmot (leg) is sidelined for the remainder of the season.

Derby County possible starting lineup:

O'Donnell; Ward, Sanderson, Clarke, Murkin; Travis, Ozoh, Brereton Diaz, Clark, Banei; Agyemang

Stoke City possible starting lineup:

Bazunu; Lawal, Phillips, Cresswell; Thomas, Nzonzi, Seko, Bocat; Manhoef, Rak-Sakyi; Cisse