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Football League Preview: Derby eye top two, Cambridge back to reality

SoccerNews in English Premier League 25 Jan 2015

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Derby County can climb into the Championship’s top two, while Cambridge United return to League Two action after their FA Cup heroics.

A return to Championship action on Tuesday will afford Derby County the opportunity to put the disappointment of a last-gasp defeat to bitter rivals Nottingham Forest firmly behind them.

Steve McClaren’s side were beaten 2-1 on home soil on January 17 and have slipped to fifth in a tightly congested table, having been involved in the FA Cup on Saturday.

A 2-0 win over Chesterfield secured a fifth-round spot, but regaining their Premier League status remains the club’s top priority this season.

Tuesday’s visit of Blackburn Rovers offers them a chance to return to the automatic promotion places.

The top six in the Championship are separated by just four points and Derby’s game in hand on the sides around them means they will move level with leaders Bournemouth if they win.

But Blackburn will be buoyed by an FA Cup triumph of their own, Gary Bowyer’s men having defeated top-flight Swansea City 3-1.

Elsewhere in the Championship, Reading travel to a Millwall side who have lost five league games in a row, Sheffield Wednesday host Birmingham City, and Bolton Wanderers – fresh from a 0-0 Cup draw against Liverpool – head to Rotherham United.

After securing a goalless draw against Manchester United on Friday, Cambridge United must quickly refocus on their bid for a play-off spot in League Two when Dagenham and Redbridge head to the Abbey Stadium.

Richard Money’s men, who earned a lucrative fourth-round replay at Old Trafford, are six points off the top seven, but their FA Cup run has left them with at least one game in hand on all but one side in the division.

The exceptions are Accrington Stanley, who welcome seventh-placed Bury.

In League One, rock-bottom Crawley Town – without a win since October 21 – visit Chesterfield, who will climb into the top six with a victory.

Scunthorpe United’s home match against MK Dons completes the midweek fixtures.

 

 

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