With no Monday-night Premier League match this weekend, Championship sides Derby County and Burnley take centre stage in three days' time.
The two teams both have ambitions of promotion this season and they will be confident coming into this match as they are both on winning streaks.
Derby County
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Promotion favourites at the start of the season, Derby, under new head coach Paul Clement, had a sluggish start to the campaign, drawing their opening four league games before a first defeat at home to Leeds United.
An underwhelming August, but since the international break they have bagged six points out of six with back-to-back away wins at Preston North End and Reading.
On Saturday a well-taken Chris Martin brace put them in a commanding position on their way to a 2-1 win at Deepdale before they eked out a 1-0 victory against 10-man Reading on Tuesday night.
Tom Ince was a star for Derby on loan towards the end of last season, netting 11 goals in 18 games, and his first of 2015-16 finally arrived as he scored the second-half winner at the Madejski Stadium three days ago.
Although a 1-0 win against 10 men might not read all that well, Reading had beaten high-flying Ipswich Town 5-1 at the same ground on Friday. Orlando Sa scored a hat-trick against the Tractor Boys and Derby were no doubt glad to see him sent off for a clash with Jason Shackell just before half time.
Those wins have moved Derby up into the top half and they are just four points behind second-placed Middlesbrough, with early pacesetters Brighton & Hove Albion a further five clear due to their near-perfect start to the season.
In-form Burnley will provide a stern test here, but Derby might look ahead to their next six fixtures against MK Dons, Brentford, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers, Huddersfield Town and Rotherham United - six of the current bottom 10 - and eye a hot streak to propel them into the promotion places.
With only seven goals scored in their first seven Championship matches, those seemingly favourable fixtures could provide the platform for Clement's Rams to catch fire.
Recent form: DDDLWW
Burnley
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Only red-hot Brighton are in better form than Burnley, who have won four on the spin to climb up to third in the table, five points behind the Seagulls.
Sean Dyche's side managed just two points out of nine from their first three matches after relegation from the Premier League and seemed to be struggling to life back in the Championship. A perfect record since and the Clarets are on the promotion charge.
Three of those four victories, including the most recent two, were at home against Brentford, Sheffield Wednesday and MK Dons, with the other away at Bristol City - all sides in the bottom nine - so they must prove their mettle against tougher opposition in Derby.
On Saturday, two late goals from Matthew Taylor and Andre Gray, his first for the club, saw them overcome a stubborn Wednesday before crisp strikes from Sam Vokes and George Boyd were enough to inflict a third-straight defeat on MK Dons on Tuesday.
For Boyd, it was his first league goal since he netted the winner in Burnley's surprising triumph at Manchester City in March.
The Clarets' other goalscorer in midweek, Vokes, has been speaking about facing former teammate Shackell, insisting that he will put his friendship aside the moment the whistle blows.
Recent form: DLWWWW
Team News
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There is unlikely to be many changes from either Clement or Dyche as these two have been given two days longer than the rest of the Championship to rest after a midweek round of fixtures.
One man likely to be in the Derby County lineup is Johnny Russell, who committed the next three years of his career to the Rams with a new contract earlier today.
Jamie Hanson is pushing for a recall in central midfield, but new signings Jacob Butterfield and Bradley Johnson are likely to continue.
For the visitors, former Aston Villa right-backk Matt Lowton is still waiting to make his debut and could replace Tendayi Darikwa at the iPro Stadium.
There was also a new contract signed at Burnley today and Dean Marney could be in the matchday squad for the first time this season after recovering from a cruciate knee injury sustained in February.
Derby County possible starting lineup:
Carson; Christie, Keogh, Shackell, Forsyth; Hendrick, Johnson, Butterfield; Ince, Martin, Russell
Burnley possible starting lineup:
Heaton; Lowton, Duff, Keane, Mee; Boyd, Arfield, Jones, Kightly; Vokes, Gray
Head To Head
Burnley have won the last three meetings without conceding by an aggregate score of 7-0 and Derby have collected just two points in their last 10 league games against the Clarets, drawing two and losing eight.
Interestingly, Derby have attempted the most passes in the division this season (3608), exactly 900 more than Burnley have.
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Hit play below to see what the Sports Mole Sofa had to say about this encounter:
We say: Derby County 2-1 Burnley
Burnley are on a good run, but they have not looked all that convincing against bottom-half opposition and might see their streak ended by a Derby side desperate for a home win.
Pascal Lemesre
