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

Exeter City will attempt to claim a third consecutive victory when they welcome Derby County to St James' Park for Tuesday's League One contest.

The Rams, meanwhile, will be looking to return to winning ways after being held to a draw by Shrewsbury Town at the weekend.

Match preview

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Exeter will head into Tuesday's contest in a confident mood after winning four of their previous five matches, including their last two fixtures against Peterborough United and Wigan Athletic.

Mo Eisa scored his first goal for the club to give Exeter a 10th-minute lead in Saturday's away meeting with the Latics, before Jack Aitchison doubled his side's advantage in the second period.

Although Charlie Kelman pulled a goal back for Wigan, the Grecians saw out the remainder of the contest to record a third consecutive away victory.

As a result of their fine run of form, Exeter have moved up to 13th place in the League One table, establishing a sizable eight-point cushion to the drop zone.

Having failed to win any of their last five meetings with Derby, the Grecians are looking to beat Derby for the second time in their history and the first time in 91 years.

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Derby experienced a frustrating afternoon on Saturday as they gave up a slender lead to draw 1-1 with Shrewsbury Town at Pride Park.

They looked set to claim a third consecutive victory when Max Bird opened the scoring in the 54th minute, but a late Aaron Pierre effort ultimately denied the Rams maximum points.

Despite missing out on a win at the weekend, Paul Warne's side remain in second position with a narrow one-point gap to third-placed Bolton Wanderers.

Derby will now turn their attention to Tuesday's fixture, where they will be looking to produce another strong defensive performance, having kept clean sheets in five of their last eight away league games.

The Rams will also have the chance to complete a league double over Exeter after they recorded a 2-0 victory in October's reverse fixture thanks to goals from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Conor Washington.

Team News

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As for the visitors, they remain without defender Demetri Mitchell, who is sidelined with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Exeter boss Gary Caldwell could be tempted to name an unchanged lineup after seeing his side claim a narrow victory over Wigan at the weekend.

Ryan Woods could be given more minutes off the bench, having made two substitute appearances since arriving on loan from Hull City last month.

As for Derby, they are still unable to call upon the services of Jake Rooney, Craig Forsyth, Martyn Waghorn and Washington due to injury.

January signing Corey Blackett-Taylor remains a doubt for Tuesday's contest after missing Derby's last two matches with a groin problem.

Having featured as a substitute in Derby's last two matches, Tom Barkhuizen is in contention to start against Exeter at St James Park.

Exeter City possible starting lineup: Sinisalo; Sweeney, Diabate, Jules; Niskanen, Carroll, Cole, Harper; Aitchison, Harris; Eisa

Derby County possible starting lineup: Wildsmith; Nyambe, Nelson, Bradley, Sibley; Mendez-Laing, Adams, Hourihane, Barkhuizen; Bird; Collins

We say: Exeter City 0-2 Derby County

Promotion-chasing Derby are set to go up against an in-form Exeter side, but after winning their last two head-to-head meetings, we think that the Rams will do enough to claim all three points on Tuesday.

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