Nottingham Forest's bitter rivals Derby County set to reveal preferred bidder after shock U-turn

Nottingham Forest’s arch-rivals Derby County are understood to be edging closer towards seeing a preferred bidder selected.

The Rams have been in administration since last September. And they are second-bottom of the second tier table, having been docked 21 points for breaching financial rules.

According to DerbyshireLive, American businessman Chris Kirchner remains very interested in buying Derby as the club's administrators edge closer to selecting a preferred bidder.

Kirchner withdrew his bid for the Rams in December, with administrators Quantuma claiming it fell short of other offers they were expecting for the club. He then switched his attention to Championship rivals Preston North End, but they released a statement last week which appeared to rule out Kirchner's takeover, saying they were no longer engaged with "any party".

Kirchner posted the following cryptic message on Twitter at the weekend: "In time, everything will make sense." Rumours circulated yesterday that Kirchner was back at the table and late last night The Sun reported that Derby are "picking" him as their preferred bidder. There has been nothing official from Quantuma or Kirchner.

A number of parties have expressed an interest in taking over the Rams, with former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley previously said to have been in talks. Quantuma said last week: "The joint administrators are continuing discussions with interested parties which have progressed significantly over the last 10 days."