Derby County

Derby County welcome Sunderland on Tuesday as pressure mounts on Rams manager Paul Warne (19:45 GMT).

Derby have not won a league match in their past four league games to leave them only one point clear of the bottom three, while Sunderland's Friday fixture against fellow promotion contenders Burnley ended goalless.

Derby had success at Pride Park at the start of the season but the Rams have only won two of their past eight home games, whereas the Black Cats have only lost two of their past 10 away games.

• Derby are winless across their past 13 league games against Sunderland (D5 L8) since a 1-0 win at Pride Park in February 2001 in the Premier League.

• Sunderland are unbeaten across their past six away league games against Derby (W4 D2); the Black Cats' longest ever such run in this fixture.

• Derby have won two of their seven Championship games this season that have taken place in midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday), losing three of them (D2); they did, however, win their last such game at home against West Brom 2-1 in December.

• Sunderland have won all four of their league games against newly promoted sides in the Championship this season, scoring eight goals and conceding only once.

• Derby boss Warne has won one of his previous five Football League encounters with Sunderland (D2 L2), losing each of the past two league meetings by an aggregate score of 0-5.

Dominic Dietrich
BBC Radio Derby

Derby County are standing by their head coach as they try and strengthen between now and the end of the transfer window.

The Rams are looking to end a run of form that sees them sitting one point above the relegation zone after picking up just four wins from their past 23 Championship matches.

The club will be looking to continue their January recruitment after the signing of striker Jars Jorgen Salvesen to give Paul Warne the tools needed for the club to survive this season.

David Clowes showed a similar sentiment last campaign, standing by Warne following a defeat at Stevenage, amid calls for his job, and it paid off as they were promoted.

The question will be this time if that loyalty produces the same result and, should their losing run of four in a row continue, will they be able to shoulder the mounting pressure?

Lincoln City are in advanced talks to sign experienced Derby County striker James Collins, with the 34-year-old out of favour at Pride Park. (Pete O'Rourke, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Monday's gossip here.

Image source, Rex Features

Derby County head coach Paul Warne spoke to BBC Radio Derby after the Rams were beaten 2-0 at home by Watford.

"I could hear the frustration at the final whistle [with fans booing]. I understand that. I'm a big boy.

"I didn't think we played that bad, to be fair. It's always about chances. You have to take your opportunities and I thought we had a really good opportunity in the first couple of minutes with Jerry - he hit the side netting and I'd normally expect him to score that.

"They then score up at our end and the game was then edgy for 10-15 minutes. We didn't look that good and looked a little nervous.

"I thought we had ascendancy in our play at the end of the first half. We created chances and didn't take them and hit the crossbar twice.

"At half-time we told the lads to be a little more aggressive. I just think we looked softer than normal and they had real threat.

"And the more you try push that goal, the more you are open to the counter-attack. They are a really athletic side that caused us no end of problems on the counter-attack and could have scored another couple."

Newly-signed Derby County striker Lars-Jorgen Salvesen could be handed a debut when the Rams host Watford on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

However, the 28-year-old has not played a competitive match since the conclusion of the Norwegian league Eliteserien on 1 December and boss Paul Warne has warned that the weekend may be "too soon" as the Norwegian builds up to match fitness.

"He might physically look okay. He's going to train with the squad today," Warne told BBC Radio Derby.

"If I really like what I see in the next two days and think he might be alright to put on for 10 minutes, then I'll put him in the squad. The sooner he can get involved, the better."

Defenders Eiran Cashin and Ryan Nyambe are expected to be fit after recovering from their respective injuries, while midfielder David Ozoh is set to return to training on Monday following his quad muscle injury.

However, defender Nat Phillips is undergoing treatment leaving an uncertainty as to whether the Liverpool loanee can feature against the Hornets.

You can listen to Warne's full pre-match press conference on BBC Sounds.

Watford take a trip to Derby County on Saturday in a bid to end their four-game winless run in the Championship. (15:00 GMT).

The Hornets secured a late equaliser in their midweek draw at Cardiff City to avoid a second loss of the week after falling to Premier League side Fulham in the FA Cup at the weekend.

Derby are on a losing streak of their own and suffered a dramatic upset against League One's Leyton Orient to see them knocked out of the cup after a thrilling penalty shootout.

• Derby have lost just three of their past 15 home league games against Watford (D4 L8), scoring 2.1 goals per game over that period.

• Watford have won each of their past three league games against Derby - as many victories as across their prior 12 meetings with the Rams combined between 2009 and 2015 (D1 L8).

• Derby have lost each of their past three league games, last losing more in a row back in May 2021 under Wayne Rooney (6).

• Only Leeds United's (2.9) and Middlesbrough's (2.7) weekend games (Fri/Sat/Sun) are averaging more goals in the Championship this season than Watford's (2.6 – 47 in 18).

• Derby County's Ebou Adams has conceded the most fouls in the Championship so far this season (48) as well as receiving the most yellow cards of any Rams player (7).

BBC Radio Derby's Dominic Dietrich is joined by former Derby academy coach Darren Robinson plus reaction from Rams boss Paul Warne after the 6-5 penalty defeat to Leyton Orient in the third round of the FA Cup.

You can keep up to date with with Derby County news and views by listening to the Rams Daily podcast on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Getty Images

Derby County are set to sign forward Lars-Jorgen Salvesen, reports BBC Radio Derby.

The 28-year-old scored 12 goals for Viking FK last season as they finished third in the Norwegian top flight.

The fee is expected to be £800,000 with the Rams hopeful of having the deal completed before their Championship match at home to Watford on Saturday.

Salvesen also has Champions League and Europa League experience with his previous club, Bodo Glimt.

'It could be the difference between surviving or not'

Analysis - BBC Radio Derby's Dominic Dietrich

Derby County are on the verge of finally getting Paul Warne the target man he's always wanted since arriving two-and-a-half years ago.

Whether he pictured it being Lars-Jorgen Salvesen from Norway, who knows, but their bid for better value for money overseas has proved a tried-and-trusted method since the summer arrivals of goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom and midfielder Kenzo Goudmijn.

Among the options available to Derby, I understand this is a deal that all those involved unanimously agreed on before making their move as they hope his ability in the air could prove to be the missing piece.

Business in January is usually to correct the mistakes made in the summer, for Derby and Warne it could be the difference between surviving in the Championship or not.

The club will hope to get this deal over the line sooner rather than later, with a medical due this week, the question will be if he will arrive in time for their next league game at home against Watford on Saturday.

Dominic Dietrich
Senior Sports Journalist, BBC Radio Derby

Image source, .

I'm not sure many will have known Tawanda Chirewa when his loan signing to Derby County was announced back on 26 August from Wolves.

Fast forward a few months and there has been little learned about the 21-year-old after just 196 minutes in a Derby shirt across six appearances.

Sometimes loan signings can pleasantly surprise you, like in the case of David Ozoh, who despite being injured for the past three months, showed his pedigree inside his first five matches.

And then there are loan signings that leave you scratching your head, and this would be one of them.

For the battle Derby are in this season, they can't afford to let a player learn the hard way at Championship level, especially when money is tight and it takes up a precious loan slot, so they've made the decision to cut short his stay which, you'd think, means a player incoming won't be far away on loan.

By all accounts, Tawanda was a great lad around the training ground, intelligent and willing to learn - but it's one of those moves that probably came too soon for him in the situation Derby are in.

He's clearly got ability and I'm sure he will have learned lessons in his start at the Stadium of Light or on his debut at Barrow.

But ultimately, from a Derby County perspective, it hasn't worked.

Image source, Getty Images

Derby County have cut short the loan stay of Wolves attacking midfielder Tawanda Chirewa.

The 21-year-old Zimbabwe international moved to Pride Park from the Premier League side on a season-long deal last summer, but made just six appearances in all competitions in his near five-month stay with the Rams.

"Derby have opted to exercise the right to end the loan agreement during the current transfer window," said the Championship club on its website.