Afternoon all, are we going to get served a fiery East Midlands derby to warm the bitter conditions? I hope so!

Let's get straight to the starting lineups...

DERBY XI: Legzdins; Brayford, Keogh, O'Brien, Roberts; Coutts, Hughes, Hendrick, Bryson; Ward, Sammon

FOREST XI: Darlow; Jara, Ward, Collins, Halford; Gillett, Lansbury, Majewski, Cohen; Cox, Sharp

For the hosts, Jamie Ward is back in the starting lineup alongside Connor Sammon in attack. Nigel Clough is also able to welcome back teenager Will Hughes and Craig Bryson in midfield.

Forest are able to recall Danny Collins after the centre-back served a suspension. Dexter Blackstock is missing from the visitors' lineup and could that be because he has been the subject of a possible bid from Derby! Read more about that here.

And the two benches:

Derby: Fielding, O'Connor, Robinson, Freeman, Jacobs, Davies, Bennett
Forest: Evtimov, Harding, Moloney, Moussi, McGugan, Greening, Blackstock

REFEREE WATCH: Today's man in charge is Mark Clattenburg.

The two sides are out and the it's a rousing atmosphere at Pride Park. Moments until the off.

KICKOFF: Derby get us underway.

An early corner for the home fans to cheer as Collins slides in to take the ball of Sammon's toes. Keogh rises well but his header has no power and is easy for young Forest keeper Darlow.

It's all Derby in the early stages and Ward almost picks out Sammon in the middle before Bryson lets fly from distance but pulls it wide of the near post.

Clattenburg wants to play advantage as Ward slides in on Bryson but Derby would prefer the free kick about 21 yards out. Dead centre...

JUST WIDE! Ward takes a long run-up at it and his low fizzer looks as if it's going to bulge the net with the aid of a deflection, but just goes wide.

"Whey!" jeer the home support as Halford slices a cross that is angles towards the halfway line. Derby still looking the more dangerous.

OFF THE BAR! Derby have looked better but Forest come within inches of taking the lead. Sharp and Cox combine up top, with the latter lashing goalwards from 18 yards against the face of the crossbar.

CHANCE! Another opening for the visitors as Cox is freed down the right and cuts it back for the onrushing Jara. The loanee full-back hits it first time from just inside the area but that's miles over. Bad miss.

Cox is looking particularly lively for Forest but he's been struggling to find the net of late, failing to score in his last seven.

HANDBAGS! The first altercation of the match is between Derby striker Ward and Forest keeper Darlow after the former had jumped into the stopper unnecessarily. Clattenburg has a quick word with both men, nothing more.

Derby have resumed control after Forest's glorious pair of chances but there's more fisticuffs! This time it's Sharp and Keogh after an aerial tussle. The Derby skipper wasn't happy with the challenge and Sharp did have a little kick out at Keogh. Clattenburg lets it go but many referees may have sent the Forest man off there.

Little to report in the last five until Roberts's cross from the left almost reaches Sammon, with Darlow on his toes to poke away the danger.

SHOT! The Rams come forward again and Sammon does well to hold onto the ball before laying to Coutts. The right midfielder's shot never looked like going on target.

Forest lead and it's against the run of play. Sharp holds off Roberts well on the right touchline and clips a cross into the middle. It's headed more up, than away and drops for Cohen. The number seven completely misses the first attempt but that sends all the defenders down in front of him and he simply strokes home the bouncing ball on the second attempt.

SHOT! Derby look to respond as right-back Brayford cuts inside a fires low. Darlow knows where his post is and sees it wide.

As we approach half time, Cox runs at the Derby defence but his shot has the life taken out of it by Keogh's deflection.

CURLER! Neat link-up on the edge of the Forest box from Sammon and Ward. The latter looks to curl it in the far corner but that's just wide.

Forest lead thanks to Cohen's calm finish at the second go. Derby have looked good for the majority but haven't taken their chances.

Click here to read Sian Cowper's half-time report.

While we wait for the second half to get underway, click here to read my analysis on last night's Championship game between promotion contenders Leicester and Middlesbrough. The Foxes won it thanks to David Nugent's clean finish in the 70th minute.

KICKOFF! Forest get the second half underway.

Almost a second for Forest as Sharp beats the offside trap. He's a little slow to get going and Legzdins just about nicks the ball from the forward.

Nightmare for Forest number four Gillett. He gifts the ball to Sammon and the striker drives at the defence before finding his strike partner to pass home first time.

Derby are buzzing and they almost grab a second straight away, but Hendrick's shot is tipped on its way by Darlow.

The Pride Park faithful are in full voice and all the play, as it did at the start of the match, is coming from the home side. This time it's left-back Roberts who gets a shot in but that's easy enough for Darlow to hold onto.

The Pride Park faithful are in full voice and all the play, as it did at the start of the match, is coming from the home side. This time it's left-back Roberts who gets a shot in but that's easy enough for Darlow to hold onto.

BOOKING! It's a clear yellow for Forest defender Ward as he hacks down Hendrick looking to break into the area. Free kick 25 yards out for the Rams...

Goalscorer Ward lines it up but that's rifled into the middle of the red Forest wall.

SUB: Forest make the first change and it's Blackstock on for Majewski.

SUB: It doesn't take Derby long to respond and they also make a strong change up front. Clough takes off goalscorer Ward for the prolific Theo Robinson.

SUB: Staggered substitutions galore! Forest make their second change as Guy Moussi replaces Gillett.

Forest have a good couple of minutes and could go ahead but Blackstock nods too far into the ground from a corner and it bounces over.

Forest's Cohen looks to score his second of the game but Legzdins watches the long-ranger wide. Derby make another change and it's hot prospect Michael Jacobs to come on for Craig Bryson.

Into the final 10 minutes and this one really is up for grabs. Forest are looking more likely at the moment as Cohen and Lansbury both fire wide.

Cohen swings over a corner and the Forest fans behind the goal want a penalty but Clattenburg isn't impressed and rightly so, the ball hit Keogh's chest.

CLOSE! It's the red shirts who continue to threaten as Sharp spins on the edge of the area and drills just past the post.

Three minutes added on.

Sharp almost gets it on goal but that's solid defending from Keogh. Just two minutes to go. Will we have a winner?

SHOT! It's Sharp again but his shot from just outside the area is high, wide and not very handsome.

Sharp is called for a foul just before volleying into the far corner just on full time.

A 1-1 draw in the East Midlands derby then. Forest will probably take that considering they'd lost the three previous meetings. You can imagine that both sides and sets of fans will feel they deserved the three points. A fair result, on the whole.

If you've just joined us, click here to read Sian's full-time report.

Thanks for joining Sports Mole this afternoon. Be sure to stick around on site for all of the other Championship and Premier League fixtures. Until next time, goodbye.