This Week's Opposition: Derby County

Pompey Live and The Football Hour host Jake Smith delivers insight on the Blues' next Championship opponent, Derby County.

A goalless draw with Norwich on Tuesday night lifted Pompey out of the relegation zone, as John Mousinho’s side recorded a 4th game unbeaten and back-to-back clean sheets.

Fellow League One promotion-winning outfit Derby County are up next for the Blues on a Friday night in front of the Sky cameras.

MANAGER

51-year-old Paul Warne remains at the helm of The Rams.

The former Rotherham United manager has been at Pride Park since September 2022 when he succeeded interim boss Liam Rosenior.

He left The Millers with the side 8th in the Championship at the time to drop down a division and take charge of Derby, who were then a League One outfit.

Since then, Warne has achieved a win percentage of 47.9 from 121 competitive games in charge and guided the club to automatic promotion to the Championship last season, finishing 5 points behind Portsmouth and 5 points ahead of Bolton Wanderers in 3rd.

ONE TO WATCH

Ebou Adams has been named our one to watch this week.

The 28-year-old Gambian plays in midfield for Derby and has so far this season acted as a holding midfielder but when unleashed in a more attacking role, causes trouble for opposition defences.

Adams signed for The Rams on a 3-year deal from Cardiff City in the summer after a successful end-of-season loan at Pride Park toward the end of the 2023/24 campaign..

TOP SCORER

With 4 goals to his name at this stage, forward Jerry Yates currently tops Derby’s goalscoring chart.

Yates is 28-years of age and is on loan at Derby from fellow-Championship side Swansea City - The loan deal is for the whole season.

The striker netted in 3 consecutive games in November but has failed to score 

CURRENT FORM

The Rams are winless in their last 6 outings, drawing 3 and losing 3.

Their most recent win was 2-1 away at Coventry City on November the 6th.

Overall this season, Paul Warne’s side have achieved 5 victories, 6 draws and 9 defeats from 20 league fixtures, accumulating 21 points and a -4 goal difference to sit in 17th position.

Can the Blues make it 5 games without defeat and propel themselves further away from the drop zone?

The Pompey Live team will be providing full coverage of the game from Pride Park from 7pm on Friday (December 13th) evening.

Kick-off: 8pm!