3/1 To Win
Derby County will round off 2021 across the A50 with a trip to Stoke City on Thursday evening.
dcfc.co.uk has gathered all the information you need to know ahead of the game (7:45pm kick-off).
LIVE STREAM…
Derby County supporters are advised that the game, which is classed as a Bank Holiday fixture over Christmas, is NOT available to watch on RamsTV in the UK & Ireland and is ONLY available for those based overseas.
International pay-per-view passes are available to purchase, while the match is also available to international subscribers.
Full details can be found here.
TICKET NEWS…
Tickets went off sale online before Christmas, while they will also go off sale in person from the Ticket Office at 4pm on Wednesday 29th December 2021.
Stoke City have confirmed that on the day sales will NOT be available, so buying tickets in advance is required.
Full ticket information for the game can be found by Clicking Here.
PLAN B PROTOCOLS & COVID-19 CERTIFICATION...
Stoke City have issued guidance for supporters to access the bet365 Stadium under the new measures recently introduced by the UK Government to minimise the risk of further transmission of COVID-19.
TEAM NEWS…
Defender Lee Buchanan will miss out once more after picking up a knee injury in last month's home win over AFC Bournemouth, which is due to keep him out until January.
Derby
were without several players for the 1-0 home win over West Bromwich Albion on 27th December as they were forced to
self-isolate under the strict COVID-19 protocol guidance. As a result, the Rams will continue to monitor the players'
situations on a daily basis.
Striker Colin Kazim-Richards and midfielder Ravel Morrison are pushing to start after the pair impressed off the bench in the 1-0 over West Bromwich Albion, with Kazim-Richards scoring the only goal of the game.
Polish international midfielder Krystian Bielik, who suffered an ACL knee injury in January of this year, is making good progress in his rehabilitation work but is still not yet in a position to return to full training.
MANAGER'S THOUGHTS…
Manager Wayne Rooney offered his pre-match views to RamsTV and he said: “We know it’s another difficult game.
“Stoke are a good team and they play good football, so we will prepare the best we can.
“We will be ready to play and battle again and it’s an important time of the season for everyone.
“If you can build some momentum now, it will be huge for us.
“We will keep fighting, keep putting in performances and trying to pick up points.
“Once we get to around mid-February we will
have a better idea of whether we have a realistic chance of staying up
or whether we are in League One - but we will keep going until the end.”
FROM THE DRESSING ROOM…
Goalkeeper Ryan Allsop spoke to RamsTV following the Bank Holiday Monday clash against West Bromwich Albion at Pride Park Stadium.
He said:
“It’s important that we try and put runs
together and with back-to-back clean sheets too we go to Stoke next and
hopefully we can get a proper run going.
“It’s nice to get the three points on Monday; we will reflect on the performance and what we could have done better.
“There is still stuff that we can take from the game that needs to be looked at but we look ahead to Stoke now and we will figure out how we are going to approach that game and we go there to win again.”
MATCH OFFICIALS…
Matthew Donohue will oversee Thursday night's game at the bet365 Stadium.
Donohue has overseen 15 games so far this season in all competitions, showing 57 yellow cards and four red cards.
His
last Derby match was the 2-1 home win over Middlesbrough in the 2020/21
season with Lee Gregory and Colin Kazim-Richards the Rams' goalscorers.
Donohue will be assisted by Philip Dermott and Steven Meredith on the lines, whilst Carl Boyeson has been appointed as the fourth official.
EFL SUBSTITUTE RULES…
The five substitutions rule has been scrapped for the 2021/22 season, the English Football League confirmed in July.
The rule allowing clubs to make five changes, as opposed to the usual three, was brought in following football's restart in June 2020 after a break due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Given that games had to be condensed into a short period of time it was thought beneficial and allowed managers to make as many as five changes in three intervals during a match.
Clubs had a longer post-break between seasons this time around and so the temporary rule has been changed.
Teams will be able to name seven substitutes but only use a maximum of three.
STREAMING INFORMATION…
With
COVID-19 capacity restrictions lifted and EFL fixtures being played in
front of full crowds once again, the temporary change in streaming rules
is no longer valid.
If you can't make the game in person, other options to catch up with the action on the pitch – including live TV, live radio, streaming of selected matches alongside highlights on TV and online of every Sky Bet EFL game.
LIVE TV (DOMESTIC)
In the UK, Sky Sports will show 138 Sky Bet EFL matches, 15 Carabao Cup ties and the Semi Finals and Final of the Papa John’s Trophy.
In the case of Weekend Fixtures, the EFL’s designated kick-off times* for Sky Live Matches are usually scheduled as follows:
* Friday evenings at 7:45pm or 8pm
* Saturdays at 12:30pm; Sundays at 12-noon
Within the Sky contract there are other kick-off times that are available to the broadcaster
In the case of scheduled Midweek Matches, live Sky fixtures will be between 7:30pm and 8pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
RADIO
TalkSPORT offer exclusive live commentaries on national radio across the Sky Bet EFL as well as non-exclusive rights to the Carabao Cup that are shared by the BBC.Both TalkSPORT and the BBC have the ability to broadcast score flash updates across all competitions.BBC Local Radio also have individual commentary deals with selected EFL clubs.
LIVE TV (INTERNATIONAL)
Any match shown live on Sky Sports in the UK is made available overseas via the League’s international broadcast partners.As well as this fixture, a minimum of 36 Championship fixtures taking place on Saturdays at 3pm, will be distributed for international coverage, alongside selected League One and Two fixtures, Carabao Cup ties, and action from across the Sky Bet Play-Offs.
A full list of the EFL’s international broadcast partners are available here:efl.com/iFollow/international-broadcasters/
HIGHLIGHTS
In the UK, Quest will continue to be the home for all highlights of matches in the Sky Bet EFL, Carabao Cup and Papa John’s Trophy, with action from a full weekend schedule of matches broadcast at 9pm on Saturdays, and midweek League highlights and Carabao Cup midweek highlights also screened on applicable weeknights. Internationally, a number of the EFL’s broadcast partners show repeat transmissions and highlights.
STREAMING
In respect of domestic streaming, the EFL will return to the position as was prior to the pandemic when the live broadcast or streaming of any match in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is prohibited between the hours of 2:45pm-5:15pm on Saturday afternoons.
EFL clubs will have the right to live-stream midweek matches on iFollow or Club equivalent service, with Sky Sports also able to stream the same Championship fixtures to subscribers across their Red Button interactive and digital services.
The position in each Sky Bet EFL division is as follows:
CHAMPIONSHIP - DOMESTIC
* All scheduled midweek matches (unless selected as one of Sky Sports Exclusive midweek selections)
* Displaced weekend matches – matches which are moved from Saturday 3pm kick-offs for non-TV purposes (at the discretion of the Home club)
* Bank Holiday matches over Christmas and Easter (at the discretion of the Home club)
CHAMPIONSHIP - INTERNATIONAL
Overseas supporters can watch live all EFL Championship league games provided that they have not been selected for international television broadcast in a territory that has an overseas broadcast partner
