Derby County will be looking to maintain their place at the summit of the Championship when they take on Watford in a top-of-the-table clash at Vicarage Road this Saturday.

The Rams displaced Bournemouth at the top before the international break courtesy of a thumping 5-0 victory over fellow promotion hopefuls Wolverhampton Wanderers.

However, despite the emphatic nature of that victory, Steve McClaren will know that his side cannot afford to rest on their laurels with such a tight playoff battle shaping up.

Victory on Saturday would give them a six-point cushion over the Hornets, while defeat would see them level on points with their opponents and most likely surrender top spot to one of the chasing pack.

McClaren will be keen to ensure that complacency doesn't creep into his side again having responded well to disappointing back-to-back defeats at the hands of Wigan Athletic and Brentford recently.

The visitors are unlikely to see any reason for changing their side from the drubbing of Wolves, especially after Jack Butland extended his loan at the club.

Johnny Russell will also be looking to continue his recent purple patch having scored four goals in his last four games for the Rams, form that earned him a Scotland debut against England at Celtic Park, where he came on as a sub to help set up his side's solitary goal.

It wasn't long ago that Watford sat in Derby's position atop the Championship ladder, but consecutive defeats before the international break have seen them drop down to fifth place.

Slavisa Jokanovic will be keen to avoid a similar prolonged slump to the ones suffered by the likes of Nottingham Forest and Norwich City in recent weeks, and a positive result against the league leaders would be an impressive response to their dip in form.

He will be glad to be back at Vicarage Road too, where Watford have not lost a league game all season and boast the third-best home record in the division.

The hosts have also been boosted by the news that Almen Abdi has returned to full training this week, although Saturday's match is likely to come too soon for the midfielder to start.

Indeed, Jokanovic could name an unchanged lineup up, with a front three of Matej Vydra, Troy Deeney and Fernando Forestieri once again.

Watford:

Recent form: WDDWLL

Possible starting lineup: Gomes; Paredes, Ekstrand, Bassong, Pudil; Munari, Tozser, Andrews; Vydra, Deeney, Forestieri

Derby:

Form in Championship: WWLLWW
Form in all competitions: WLWLWW

Possible starting lineup: Butland; Christie, Keogh, Shotton, Forsyth; Hendrick, Mascarell, Hughes; Russell, Martin, Dawkins

Sports Mole says: 2-3

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