Derby County prepare for "must win" clash with "struggling" Port Vale

Derby County find themselves in what feels like a pinch-point for their promotion chase.

The Rams have lost two games in a row, one to Barnsley on Saturday and one to Charlton on Tuesday night.

Paul Warne's side missed the chance to gain ground on Portsmouth on Tuesday and also promotion rivals Bolton who also dropped points.

They still sit in second place, but are level on points with Bolton and are three points ahead of Barnsley with both sides having at least one game in hand on Derby.

All of this means that Saturday's game against Port Vale seems like a bit of a must win as Derby will need to regain their promotion calibre form.

Struggling Port Vale

However, Derby's recent struggles are nothing compared to Saturday's opposition in Port Vale who are battling for survival in League One.

They recently appointed former Sheffield Wednesday and West Brom manager Darren Moore.

However, Moore hasn't been able to turn around Vale's fortunes yet as they haven't won in ten games and only have two wins in 14.

They have struggled in all aspects of the word as they have scored the fifth-fewest goals in the league and conceded the third-most goals.

Moore will need to turn things around quickly, they are in 22nd place, four points away from safety in League One.

A must win for the Rams

Derby are clearly the favourites on Saturday. They are at home against a team that are fighting to survive for League One safety.

They will need to ensure they're not complacent in a game that they simply must win. With tough games against Bolton, Portsmouth and Blackpool to come, they have to take advantage of these teams that they should easily be beating.

Tuesday night's performance against 20th placed Charlton was simply not good enough which was acknowledged by manager Paul Warne after the game.

He told Rams TV after Tuesday's game: "We need to be much better at home and much braver when things get difficult.

"We need to be better, it's as simple as that."

Predictions

Regardless of their consecutive losses, Derby should be winning on Saturday. A game against a relegation-fighting side could be the ideal chance for the Rams to bounce back and regain some of that energy that has been lost.

Paul Warne should be expecting to see a commanding win along the lines of a 2-0 or 3-0 win where his side control possession and don't let their opposition have many sniffs at goal.

A good performance will improve the morale in the Pride Park faithful after Tuesday's defeat. On paper, it isn't a massive game, but it will certainly have a big impact if the Rams fail to win.