Preview: Derby County vs. Reading - prediction, team news, lineups

The Royals, meanwhile, will be looking to return to winning ways after they fell to a narrow defeat in Saturday's home meeting with Wycombe Wanderers.

Match preview

After Derby claimed a 3-0 win over Port Vale last weekend, they repeated the scoreline in Saturday's away meeting with Bristol Rovers to move into the automatic promotion places.

The Rams played out a goalless first half, before Dwight Gayle, Tom Barkhuizen and Martyn Waghorn all got on the scoresheet in a dominant second period to secure all three points.

The result also gave a resolute Derby side their 16th clean sheet of the League One season - only Stevenage and Portsmouth have recorded more shutouts this term.

With nine matches left to play, Derby are five points adrift of leaders Portsmouth and two points clear of third-placed Bolton Wanderers.

Derby will be confident about adding to their points tally on Tuesday, having lost just one of their last six home league matches.

Reading have struggled to find consistency in recent weeks, with their last six matches producing two wins, one draw and three defeats in their last six matches.

After beginning March with a win over Carlisle United, Reading were unable to back up that result in Saturday's home meeting with Wycombe Wanderers.

The contest appeared to be heading towards a draw when Sam Smith cancelled out Nigel Lonwijk's opener, but the Royals were ultimately left empty-handed after Bez Lubala dispatched his 88th-minute penalty to condemn Ruben Selles's side to a 2-1 defeat.

Reading, who have been deducted six points this term, still have work to do in their battle to remain in the division, with five points separating them from the bottom four.

The Royals will be hoping to extend that gap on Tuesday as they look to claim a second straight away league win for the first time this season.

Derby County League One form:

W

W

L

L

W

W

Reading League One form:

D

L

W

L

W

L

Team News

Derby County are likely to be without the services of Josh Vickers, Jake Rooney, Craig Forsyth, Conor Washington, Tyreece John-Jules, Ryan Nyambe and Callum Elder.

Midfielder Max Bird is a doubt for the midweek fixture after he was forced to miss the win over Bristol Rovers due to a knock.

If Bird is unable to feature, Paul Warne could decide to select the lineup that started at the Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

As for the visitors, they are still unable to call upon Luton Town loanee Tom Holmes, but Jeriel Dorsett could return to the squad following a spell on the sidelines.

Charlie Savage could be in contention for a return to the squad after dropping out of the starting lineup for Reading's last two matches.

Smith will continue to lead the line for the Royals, and he will be looking to continue his fine run of form after scoring in each of their last three games.

Derby County possible starting lineup:

Wildsmith; Nelson, Bradley, Cashin; Ward, Hourihane, Adams, Sibley; Mendez-Laing, Barkhuizen, Gayle

Reading possible starting lineup:

Button; Yiadom, Mbengue, Bindon, Mola; Wing, Savage; Azeez, Knibbs, Ehibhatiomhan; Smith

We say: Derby County 2-0 Reading

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