Knight starts: How we expect Derby County to line up against Bournemouth on Saturday

Derby County will be determined to build upon their recent victory over Barnsley by securing a positive result in their showdown with AFC Bournemouth tomorrow.

The Rams sealed all three points in last weekend’s fixture thanks to a brace from Ravel Morrison.

As a result of this triumph, Derby managed to close the gap between them and Reading as their Championship rivals suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Millwall.

Currently only five points adrift of the Royals, the Rams will be aiming to move to within striking distance of Paul Ince’s side this weekend.

After witnessing his team’s display against Barnsley, it will be intriguing to see whether Derby manager Wayne Rooney opts to make any alterations to his starting eleven for Saturday’s clash.

Here, we have decided to take a look at how the Rams could line up at the Vitality Stadium.

Having utilised the 4-2-3-1 formation against Barnsley, Rooney is likely to stick with this system on Saturday.

Goalkeeper Ryan Allsop will be looking to claim his ninth league clean-sheet of the season in this fixture.

Curtis Davies and Eiran Cashin will be tasked with providing some defensive cover for Allsop in their centre-back roles, whilst Festy Ebosele and Nathan Byrne are set to feature in the full-back positions.

Max Bird will be accompanied in central midfield by Krystian Bielik who has started in seven of the club’s last nine league games since recovering from injury.

Whereas Tom Lawrence is set to keep his place in the side, Rooney could opt to draft in Jason Knight as a replacement for Malcolm Ebiowei.

Although Ebiowei did show some signs of promise last weekend, Derby may find it beneficial to turn to an individual who has more experience at this level in tomorrow’s fixture as