A place in the EFL Trophy quarter-finals will be at stake when League One Derby County play host to fourth-tier Bradford City on Tuesday.
Derby have won four of their last five matches, while the Bantams enter the midweek contest off the back of a four-game winless run.
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Derby will head into Tuesday’s encounter in a positive mood after they bounced back from a 3-2 defeat against Peterborough United to beat Fleetwood Town 3-1 in Saturday’s away fixture.
Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and James Collins grabbed a goal apiece to give the Rams a two-goal cushion, before Fleetwood striker Jayden Stockley halved the deficit in the 76th minute.
However, substitute Tom Barkhuizen netted a third to ensure that Derby picked up all three points, leaving them in fourth position and just two points adrift of the League One promotion places.
Incidentally, Saturday’s result represented the second time that the Rams had beaten Fleetwood in the space of a month after cruising to a 3-0 victory in December’s EFL Trophy clash to set up the last-16 tie against Bradford.
Having won all four matches in this season’s competition, the Rams will fancy their chances of claiming another win on Tuesday, especially as three of those victories took place on home turf.
While Derby have won eight of their last 10 competitive matches (D1, L1), Bradford have failed to win any of their last four matches since beating Doncaster Rovers 3-1 before Christmas.
After rounding off 2023 with consecutive draws, the Bantams have begun the new year with back-to-back defeats, including a 4-2 loss in Saturday’s home clash with Crawley Town.
Graham Alexander‘s side came from behind to establish a 2-1 lead thanks to a Liam Ridehalgh effort and a Corey Addai own goal, but they ultimately conceded three late goals – including two in stoppage time – to fall to their first home defeat since November 11.
The Bantams, who occupy 14th place in League Two, will be looking for a positive response when they face Derby in a competitive game for the first time since April 2004.
Like their hosts, Bradford have won all four games in the EFL Trophy this season, scoring an impressive 13 goals in that period – four of which came in the previous round against Liverpool Under-21s.
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Derby are unable to call upon defender Jake Rooney and forward Conor Washington due to knee and ankle problems respectively.
Korey Smith and Martyn Waghorn are closing in on a return to full training, but Tuesday’s contest will come too soon for the pair.
Paul Warne could be tempted to make a few changes, with Joe Wildsmith, Callum Elder and Barkhuizen all in contention to start against the Bantams.
As for the visitors, they are still without the services of Alex Pattison and Jamie Walker, who are ruled out through injury.
Left-back Lewis Richards is set to miss a fourth straight game with a calf problem, but he is targeting a return for Saturday’s league clash with Colchester United.
Having scored 12 goals across all competitions this term, experienced forward Andy Cook will provide Bradford’s main goal threat in Tuesday’s EFL Trophy meeting.
Derby County possible starting lineup:
Wildsmith; Nelson, Bradley, Cashin; Wilson, Bird, Hourihane, Forsyth; Mendez-Laing, Barkhuizen; Collins
Bradford City possible starting lineup:
Lewis; Tomkinson, Kelly, Platt; Halliday, Gilliead, Smallwood, Ridehalgh; Odour; Cook, Smith
Although Bradford have struggled in recent league games, they have won all four games in the EFL Trophy to seal their place in the last 16.
However, we think that their fine run in the competition will be brought to an end by an in-form Derby side that has won four of their last five competitive matches.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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