PREVIEW | Derby County vs Preston North End - team news, lineups, predictions | OneFootball

Derby County and Preston North End clash this Wednesday at Pride Park Stadium in Matchweek 39 of the EFL Championship.

John Eustace's Rams will be hellbent on victory in front of their home fans, given that they can leapfrog Cardiff and move out of the relegation places if they bag three points. Derby currently lie in 22nd position, but after a 13-game winless streak across all competitions (which included being knocked out of the FA Cup by Leyton Orient), they have won their last three league games - most recently recording an invaluable 2-3 win over Plymouth, which has firmly anchored the Pilgrims to the foot of the table.

Preston North End, meanwhile, turn their attentions back to league action after a 0-3 reverse against Aston Villa in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup last weekend. The Lilywhites are in 14th position in the Championship and Paul Heckingbottom's men still need to rack up a few more points this season to avoid being sucked into the dogfight at the bottom of the division.

The last meeting between the two teams ended in a 1-1 draw, Sam Greenwood putting Preston one-nil up in the 23rd minute, only for Derby's Jerry Yates to restore parity soon afterwards.

The Fan Zone

Cory Hancock (Rams Review Podcast): You could argue that the international break came at the wrong time for The Rams, with Derby coming into this game on the back of three consecutive victories. But, the 18 days between matches will have given manager John Eustace plenty of time to implement more of his ideas on this squad.

Derby still faces an uphill battle to retain their Championship place for next season and cannot afford many more slip ups. Despite this, confidence in the camp will be high after their great run of late. I’d expect the game at Pride Park to be an attritional one against a Preston side that has only picked up one win in their last five league games and who crashed out of the FA Cup last weekend.

Prediction: 1-0

PNEFC_Stats: After the international break and an FA Cup quarter final, Preston return to Championship action and travel to Pride Park to face Derby County looking to register consecutive league wins and reach the 50 point mark. Preston are looking for only their fourth away win of the season after registering victories at Cardiff, Watford and Norwich, all of which were midweek matches. After no wins in their previous 12, we're aware that Derby have found some form and are looking for a fourth straight win in a row. Manager Paul Heckingbottom welcomes Ryan Ledson back from suspension, along with Ryan Porteous and Kaine Kesler-Hayden who were ineligible for the cup game versus Villa. However, keeper Freddie Woodman has been ruled out for the rest of the season, so Dai Cornell will continue in goal with back to back starts for the first time since he joined the club back in June 2022.

Prediction: 1-1