The Rams travel to the City Ground on Monday to face their rivals in a highly-anticipated Championship clash.
Derby County manager Frank Lampard has claimed that the upcoming Championship game against Nottingham Forest is a “good one” for the Rams as they bid to get their playoff hopes back on track.
The seventh-placed Pride Park outfit are two points adrift of the top six – although sixth-placed Bristol City have a game in hand – but they’ve had some bad results in recent weeks, such as Wednesday night’s 1-0 loss to Millwall and the 1-1 draw at struggling Ipswich Town.
Forest, meanwhile, are one place and four points behind Derby, while also having played one game more than their rivals, but following two games marred by contentious decisions, the Reds will most likely be eager to make amends and get their own faltering top-six hopes back on track.
In addition, the game will be played at the City Ground, where club legend Martin O’Neill will be especially eager to mastermind a morale-boosting victory and claim bragging rights over their enemies the other side of Brian Clough Way.
“We have two away games coming up, against Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa, that are going to be very tough and we need a bit of character now,” Lampard told the Derby Telegraph ahead of Monday’s clash.
“We know Forest are below us, but our aims must always be who is above us. The Forest game is a good one for the club and a good one for us as there is not much motivation needed, that’s for sure.”
The first league fixture this season between the two East Midlands rivals at Pride Park ended in a goalless draw, with the Rams retaining the Brian Clough Trophy having remained unbeaten against Forest in the league since March 2016.
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