Derby County host Bolton Wanderers at Pride Park this Saturday in League One. Both teams are in the thick of the battle for automatic promotion whilst also being within touching distance of top of the table Portsmouth.
Derby currently sit second in League One after 38 games. The Rams have 23 wins, six draws and nine losses, leaving them on 75 points, five points behind top of the league Portsmouth.
In their last five games in all competitions, Derby have three wins and two losses.
Derby took the lead against Barnsley through a goal from Sonny Bradley in the 18th minute, but Adam Phillips equalised before the halftime whistle. Phillips grabbed a second in the second half to give Barnsley the 2 - 1 win and all three points. It was another 2 - 1 loss for Derby the next time out, this time against Charlton. The Rams once again took the lead in the first half, with Eiran Cashin on the scoresheet. However, a penalty from Alfie May and a late goal from Karoy Anderson gave Charlton the 2 - 1 win.
The Rams bounced back against Port Vale. An own goal from Kacper Lopata in the fifth minute gave Derby the lead and Dwight Gayle doubled the lead before halftime. Louie Sibley grabbed a goal in the second half to give Derby the 3 - 0 win. The visit to Bristol Rovers saw Derby pick up another 3 - 0 win. Gayle, Tom Barkhuizen and Martyn Waghorn all scored in the second half to secure the 3 - 0 win.
The last time out for Derby was against Reading. The opening stages of the second half saw Galye open the scoring for Derby and Sam Smith equalising just three minutes later, but Andy Yiadom would be sent off for Reading before the hour mark. Conor Hourihane then converted his penalty to give Derby the 2 - 1 win.
Bolton sit just below Derby in third in League One. In 38 games, Bolton have 22 wins, eight draws and eight losses which leaves them on 74 points, six points from Portsmouth.
In their last five games in all competitions, Bolton have two wins, two draws and one loss.
Despite having 11 shots and 69% of the possession, Bolton suffered a 1 - 0 loss at the hands of Wigan, with Stephen Humphrys grabbing the only goal of the game in the 69th minute. Bolton bounced back the next time out against Cambridge United. George Thomason opened the scoring for Bolton and Aaron Collins joined him on the scoresheet in the second half to secure the 2 - 0 win for Bolton.
John McAtee gave Barnsley the lead in the first half, with Donovan Pines doubling the lead for The Tykes just minutes into the second half. However, Victor Adeboyejo got Bolton on the scoresheet in the 62nd minute and a 98th minute goal from Randell Williams grabbed a 2 - 2 draw for Bolton. The trip to Exeter City saw another 2 - 2 draw for Bolton. Paris Maghoma opened the scoring for Bolton but a quickfire three minute brace from Sonny Cox gave Exeter the 2 - 1 lead. Eoin Toal scored with three minutes to go to rescue another 2 - 2 draw.
The most recent outing for Bolton was against Oxford United. Nathanael Ogbeta, Josh Dacres-Cogley, Thomason, Collins and Josh Sheehan were all on the scoresheet in the 5 - 0 win over Oxford.
Derby and Bolton have met 136 times in their histories, with the first meeting coming all the way back in 1888. The Rams have the better record in the fixture with 66 wins in comparison to Bolton’s 47 wins, with the other 23 games ending in a share of the points.