Derby County welcome Portsmouth to Pride Park this Saturday in a fierce League One clash. Both sides sit in the top half of the table and will fight for the three points to get them either into the Play-offs or closer to the top of the table.
Derby sit 11th in League One currently with nine points to their name. In six games, Derby has three wins and three losses. This leaves The Rams three points from the Play-offs and five points from the top.
The Rams have three wins and two losses in their last five games. The three wins came against Burton Albion, Fleetwood and Peterborough. James Collins, Conor Hourihane and Conor Washington all scored in the 3 - 0 win over Burton despite having less of the possession. Martyn Waghorn bagged the only goal in the 1 - 0 win over Fleetwood and Waghorn was on the scoresheet again, this time with a hattrick and along with Eiran Cashin in the 4 - 2 win over Peterborough.
The two losses came against Bolton and Oxford United. Waghorn scored again against Oxford, but his 82nd minute goal was too late as a brace from Mark Harris gave Oxford the 2 - 1 win. The loss to Bolton was Derby’s last outing where Derby once again lost 2 - 1. Hourihane converted his penalty but Derby were sent down to ten men when Joe Wildsmith was dismissed. Dion Charles and Josh Dacres-Cogley both scored to give Bolton the win.
Portsmouth sit fifth in League One with three wins and three draws. Pompey are the only unbeaten team left in the league and have 12 points so far, leaving them two points from the top.
In their last five games Portsmouth have two wins and three draws. One of these wins came in the Football League Trophy against Fulham’s U21 team. Sean Ragett scored twice along with a goal with Terry Devlin to grab a 3 - 3 draw with ten man Fulham. In the resulting penalty shoot out, Devan Tanton and Harvey Araujo missed giving Portsmouth the 5 - 4 win. Colby Bishop, Abu Kamara and Regan Poole all scored in the 3 - 1 win over Peterborough despite Joe Morrell being sent off.
The three draws came against Stevenage, Peterborough and Cheltenham. Stevenage and Portsmouth played out a goalless draw after both had a player sent off, Joe Rafferty being sent off for Portsmouth. Pompey drew Peterborough in the League Cup, and after a 1 - 1 draw with a goal from Christian Saydee Portsmouth lost 5 - 4 on penalties. The draw against Cheltenham was another goalless affair despite Portsmouth having 73% of the possession and five shots on target.
Derby and Portsmouth have a storied history, starting all the way back in 1902. This meeting will be the 100th game between the two, with Derby having the better track record in the fixture. Derby have won on 42 occasions whereas Portsmouth have won 35 times, with the remaining 22 games ending in a draw.