Derby County v Brentford Saturday 3 October 2015 iPro Stadium Kick-off: 3pm

The season so far

This is Derby’s eighth consecutive season in the Championship. Despite leading the table last season in March, they failed to reach the Play-Offs due to a last day defeat to Reading. New manager Paul Clement replaced the previous incumbent Steve McClaren, who left for Newcastle United.

After an indifferent start to the campaign, they have now won three league matches from the last four, the latest last Saturday when they defeated struggling Milton Keynes Dons 3-1. This leaves them in ninth place in the league table, one point outside the Play-Offs.

Derby spent heavily in the summer, adding Chris Baird [West Bromwich Albion]; Darren Bent [Aston Villa]; Scott Carson [Wigan Athletic], Alex Pearce [Reading], Andreas Weimann [Aston Villa], Tom Ince [Hull City], Jason Shackell [Burnley], Jacob Butterfield [Huddersfield Town], and Bradley Johnson [Norwich City. The total spending on transfers is believed to be around £20m, which makes them one of the favourites for promotion to the Premier League this season.

Several players were released at the end of their contracts following the disappointment of last season, and no player raised an incoming transfer fee.

The Gaffer

Paul Clement, son of former England international Dave Clement, arrived at the iPro this summer after an extensive period working in coaching roles domestically and abroad. The 43-year-old’s last post was at Real Madrid, working as First Team Coach to Jose Mourinho and latterly Carlo Ancelotti.

He has also coached at Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and spent a short period with the Republic of Ireland Under-21 side earlier in his career.

The Match Officials

Referee: Jeremy Simpson

Assistant Referees: Marvyn Amphlett and Paul Marsden

Fourth Official: Oliver Langford

Ticket news

Brentford fans can now pay on the day. Visit the Derby County ticket information page for more details. You can hear live match commentary of the entire match from the iPro Stadium on Bees Player from 2.30pm on Saturday, with commentators Mark Burridge and summarisers Mark Chapman and Ciaran Brett.