Preview: Derby County vs. Cardiff City – prediction, team news, lineups
Derby County play host to Cardiff City on Saturday afternoon looking to build on their positive start to life back in the Championship.
At a time when the Rams sit in 10th position in the standings, Cardiff are bottom having collected just the one point from their four matches.
Having lost out to Barrow on penalties in the EFL Cup, Derby faced the prospect of heading into the international break on a low note.
However, Paul Warne‘s side impressively bounced back with a 3-0 victory over Bristol City in the Championship, taking them to six points from their first four games.
The manner of the success can only serve the Rams well going forward, having also overcome Chesterfield and Middlesbrough at Pride Park this season.
Even in defeats at Blackburn Rovers and Watford, two of the early pacesetters, there have been positives to take in that Derby were competitive in each game.
Momentum appears to be building at the newly-promoted side, yet Warne will acknowledge that his team cannot afford to get ahead of themselves as they bid to avoid any sort of relegation battle in their first year back in the second tier.
As far as Cardiff are concerned, Erol Bulut will recognise that he needs to get a Championship win on the board as soon as possible to ease any lingering pressure on his job.
Taking last season into account, Cardiff have recorded just three wins from their most recent 13 fixtures, as many as nine defeats coming during that period.
A 1-1 draw at Swansea City stopped the rot over the bank holiday weekend before Middlesbrough ran out 2-0 victors in the final match before the international break.
Aside from the spirited performance against Southampton in the EFL Cup second round, there has been minimum encouragement for Bulut and the club’s supporters, and this feels like an important match in the context of their season.
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