Derby County face Portsmouth in the Championship on Friday evening at Pride Park Stadium, in the two promotion winning teams’ first meeting with one another since they played out a 2-2 draw in April in League One.
Joe Ward grabbed a brace for the Rams on that night at Fratton Park, with Abu Kamara and a stunning Owen Moxon strike ensuring that John Mousinho’s side took a point from the huge clash at the top of the third tier in 2023/24.
In the last few weeks, Pompey’s form has improved greatly, and they have taken eight points from their last four Championship matches. Meanwhile, Derby have won just once in 11, but did hold Burnley to a 0-0 draw at Turf Moor on Tuesday.
| Derby County vs Portsmouth Last Five Meetings (11vs11.com) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Result | Competition |
| 2 Apr 2024 | Portsmouth 2-2 Derby County | League One |
| 16 Sep 2023 | Derby County 1-1 Portsmouth | League One |
| 29 Apr 2023 | Derby County 1-1 Portsmouth | League One |
| 18 Nov 2022 | Portsmouth 0-0 Derby County | League One |
| 12 Aug 2015 | Portsmouth 2-1 Derby County | EFL Cup |
Football League World has taken a look at the eight players that are definitely out of Friday’s clash, with Regan Poole’s chances of starting the game “50/50”.
Ryan Nyambe
Ryan Nyambe has been out of action since the start of October after he was forced to come off against Millwall in his team’s 1-1 draw at The Den.
The right-back suffered a PCL injury, and he will not be back until February 2025 at the earliest, while his return could be pushed back to April.
He did not require surgery, and will be hoping to help Derby in their fight against relegation when he does come back to the starting XI.
David Ozoh
David Ozoh last featured for the Rams against Cardiff City, three months ago. The Crystal Palace loanee first suffered a hamstring issue, but then has had multiple setbacks and is seemingly no closer to a full return.
Paul Warne is missing his teenage midfielder, but he has been forced to adapt without him, and their clash against Portsmouth is still too early for the 19-year-old to feature.
Conor Shaughnessy
Conor Shaughnessy has had a very difficult 2024/25 campaign, and after injuring his calf in August, he has now torn his other while running.
The 28-year-old has played just twice in the Championship for Pompey, and is expected to miss the rest of this year before returning in 2025.
There had been hope that he was coming close to a return to the first team in recent weeks, but this update in November rocked the club.
Ibane Bowat
Ibane Bowat signed for Portsmouth for £500,000 from Fulham on deadline day, but ruptured his patella tendon in his right knee, and has been out of action since.
He underwent surgery to fix the issue, but it is likely that he will be out for the majority, if not all, of the season. Nevertheless, this is not a new problem for Mousinho, and he has found ways around the issue.
Jacob Farrell
Another summer signing, and another player who suffered an early injury, Jacob Farrell has made just one Championship appearance since joining from Central Coast Mariners.
The Australian is close to coming back to fitness, however, and is nearing a return to full training after two-and-a-half months out of action with multiple setbacks.
Mousinho explained just how close the 22-year-old is close to coming back: “Jacob is in the final stages of his rehab and is doing everything outside but train with us. I suspect if he passes everything this week he’ll be back with us next week.”
Jordan Williams
Jordan Williams has been out with a hamstring injury for the last few weeks, but is getting closer and closer to coming back to the first team.
Mousinho stated before their last block of games that he is still a fortnight or so away from being back involved on a matchday, but he has stepped up his work on the training pitch ahead of that time.
Kusini Yengi
Kusini Yengi is set to be out for another two months after he suffered a blow while out on international duty with Australia in November.
Similar to Nyambe at Derby, he picked up damage to his PCL in his knee, but seemingly to a lesser extent, and will not return until at least February.
The 25-year-old started three consecutive games before picking up the frustrating injury, and will be forced to watch on as his teammates battle it for another victory.
Mark O’Mahony
Mark O’Mahony returned to his parent club, Brighton & Hove Albion, in the week after picking up a very freak injury.
He strained his oblique muscle in his abdomen during his side’s 2-2 draw with Swansea City last weekend, and will not return to the Fratton Park pitch until 2025.
The 19-year-old has scored twice in the Championship for Portsmouth this season, but he will have to wait four to five more weeks to add to that record – that leaves Mousinho’s options up-front very slim for the remainder of 2024.
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