Deby County host Barnsley at Pride Park this Saturday in an important weekend of League One in the top half of the table. Both sides are within the conversation for Play-offs but need a win to solidify this.
Derby currently sit seventh in League One after 15 games. The Rams have seven wins, three draws and five losses, leaving them on 24 points, just two points from the final Play-off place.
In their last five games in all competitions Derby have three wins, one draw and one loss. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing opened the scoring for Derby against Exeter City in the 30th minute and Conor Washington doubled the lead in the late stages of the game as Derby won 2 - 0. However, next time out The Rams would be on the losing side against Stevenage. Jordan Roberts drew first blood for Stevenage but Mendez-Laing immediately drew Derby level. But, goals from Alex MacDonald and Kane Hemmings gave Stevenage the 3 - 1 win.
Derby bounced back against Northampton Town though. A first half brace from Max Bird and goals from Washington and Mendez-Laing gave Derby the dominant 4 - 0 win over Northampton, despite having only five shots on target. In the First round of the FA Cup, Derby travelled to Crewe Alexandra. Courtney Baker-Richardson and Elliott Nevitt gave Crewe the 2 - 0 lead going into the last five minutes but Mendez-Laing scored in the 89th minute and Conor Hourihane scored in the 93rd to grab a 2 - 2 draw and a replay.
The last time out for Derby was against the Wolves U21 team in the Football League Trophy. James Collins grabbed a hat-trick and was joined on the scoresheet by Tony Weston in the 4 - 1 win for Derby.
Barnsley sit just two spots above Derby in fifth. In 15 games, The Tykes have eight wins, three draws and four losses which leaves them on 27 points, five points from the automatic promotion spots.
In their last five games in all competitions, Barnsley have two wins and three draws. John McAtee left it to the 89th minute to score the only goal of the game in the 1 - 0 win for Barnsley over Exeter City. A penalty from Joe Pigott gave Leyton Orient the early lead, but Herbie Kane equalised mid-way through the second half. However, Barnsley couldn’t find a way through and ended the game with ten men as Sam Cosgrove was sent off in extra time.
Barnsley got back to winning ways next time out against Shrewsbury. A penalty from Kane and goals from Callum Styles and Devante Cole gave Barnsley the 3 - 0 win. Junior Quitirna scored his first goal of the game in the third minute to give Fleetwood the lead, but Cole levelled the game just four minutes later. Quitirna’s second goal gave Fleetwood back their advantage but a late goal from Corey O’Keeffe meant the game finished 2 - 2.
The most recent outing for Barnsley was in the First round of the FA Cup against Horsham. Mac Watters, Fabio Jalo and Mael de Gevigney all scored but Barnsley slipped to a 3 - 3 draw and are forced into a replay.
Derby and Barnsley have met 77 times in their histories, with the first meeting coming all the way back in 1897. The Rams have a much better record in the fixture with 37 wins in comparison to Barnsley’s 23 wins, with the other 17 games ending in a draw.