McClaren's Derby are on a charge

When Nigel Clough was removed from the manager's seat at Derby County at the end of September I thought that the Rams may struggle to keep their form. In fact, it's been quite the opposite. They have been on a very strong run and since the defeat against Nottingham Forest they have only lost to QPR on the road. The impressive form of Will Hughes in the centre of midfield is something that AFCB have to contend with on Saturday.

What has McClaren done to the Rams since his installment in the hot seat you might wonder? Well, Chris Martin has been in good form up front and Jamie Ward has also been getting on the score sheet. John Eustace has been brought back into the team, while McClaren has been at the helm. Although the Rams had not been keeping clean sheets until their last match, they have been proving a difficult team to beat. Captain Richard Keogh has only missed one game I have been told (see comments).

Sadly for AFCB fans, former Tottenham loanee - Adam Smith - has not been starting regularly for the Rams, but he has been a sub in most games with his last starting appearance against Watford. Hopefully we get to see him at Dean Court again. Last season he was on loan again at Millwall for much of the season and I think he was at Milton Keynes before that - researchers let me know.

There has also been news this week that striker Johnny Russell is likely to be back for Derby, but while several of the opposition players are returning from injury I am not sure that McClaren will change the team too much as they have been doing really well of late. Derby are currently the Championship's highest goal scorers on 29 and that really tells you all you need to know about their goal threat.

AFCB have not drawn at home yet, but I expect a score draw would be fairly good odds for this game, although and away win is also going to be strong. What do you think the score will be? Come on AFCB!

Derby Co Away Form:
WDLWL

AFCB Home Form:
LWLWL

Finally, if you did not see this morning KnowHowe 4 is now available to view on the Know  Howe tab. We always like to relive an AFCB goal and this one was a cracker by Lewis Grabban on the first day of the season.

Also make sure you have a read of my return answers to Derby County Blog.