Derby County’s 2017/18 Sky Bet Championship fixture list has been confirmed.
The fixtures, as ever, were eagerly anticipated and were announced at 9am this morning.
Gary Rowett’s side will kick off the new season on the road with a trip to newcomers Sunderland, following their relegation from the Premier League last season.
The Black Cats parted company with manager David Moyes earlier in the summer and are currently searching for a successor.
The game has been selected for live coverage by Sky Sports and will be played at the Stadium of Light on Friday 4th August 2017 (7:45pm kick-off).
It will be the first time that Derby and Sunderland have met in a competitive fixture since 2008.
Derby will get their home campaign underway with
back-to-back home games at Pride Park Stadium against Wolverhampton Wanderers
and Preston North End on Saturday 12th and Tuesday 15th August respectively.
They will then round the first month of the season off with back-to-back away fixtures against last season’s two automatic promotion winners from League 1, heading to Bolton Wanderers on Saturday 19th August and then Sheffield United on Saturday 26th August.
The first local derby clash of the season against Nottingham Forest will be played at Pride Park Stadium on Saturday 14th October, with the return fixture at the City Ground pencilled in for Saturday 10th March.
The games against near-neighbours Burton Albion will be played at Pride Park Stadium on Saturday 2nd December and then at the Pirelli Stadium on Saturday 14th April.
Christmas will prove to be a busy time for all Championship clubs and Derby have four matches crammed into the festive programme.
They will face Millwall at Pride Park Stadium on Saturday 23rd December, before taking in successive away games at Hull City on Tuesday 26th December for the annual Boxing Day fixture and then a visit to Ipswich Town on Saturday 30th December. Derby will then kick off 2018 with a New Year’s Day clash against Sheffield United on home turf on Monday 1st January.
Derby will be in action over the Easter period following the final international break of the season, welcoming Sunderland to Pride Park on Saturday 31st March before heading to Preston North End on Easter Monday (Monday 2nd April).
The Rams will round off the campaign on home turf on Sunday 6th May against Barnsley.
You can view the full fixture list on dcfc.co.uk here: dcfc.co.uk/fixtures