Gary Rowett has named the same starting XI that began the final pre-season friendly against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim last weekend for Derby County’s Sky Bet Championship opener against Sunderland.
The Rams will kick the 2017/18 EFL campaign off against the Black Cats at the Stadium of Light (7:45pm).
It is thought that, with the squad named, Derby will line-up in a 4-3-3 shape in the north-east this evening.
It also means that the Rams’ summer signings – Curtis Davies, Andre Wisdom and Tom Huddlestone – will all make their competitive debuts for the club; the latter two for the second time.
Notably, Craig Forsyth and Chris Martin make their first competitive starts in just under a year, whilst Andreas Weimann starts for the first time since December 2016.
One-time Derby loanee, James Vaughan, starts for Simon Grayson’s Black Cats.
Sunderland: Steele, Jones, Cattermole (C), Vaughan, Grabban, Galloway, N’Dong, Browning, McGeady, Kone, Honeyman
Substitutes: Khabri, O’Shea, Matthews, Gibson, Ruiter, Gooch, Asoro
Derby County: Carson, Wisdom, Keogh (C), Davies, Forsyth; Huddlestone, Butterfield, Johnson; Russell, Weimann, Martin
Substitutes: Mitchell, Bryson, Baird, Pearce, Bennett, Vydra, Nugent
Head to over to RamsTV from 7:15pm to watch our pre-match show, brought to you from Pride Park Stadium, as Rowett and his side prepare to kick-off their Championship season! Full details of how you can follow tonight’s game can be found here.