"We want to stay in it and win it" - Derby County veteran Craig Forsyth on EFL Trophy clash

Derby County's next challenge comes in the EFL Trophy against Fleetwood Town. The Rams made it through the group stage winning all three of their games and have progressed to the round of 32 where they will face rival League One side Fleetwood Town.

This will be the second trip of the season for the Fishermen to Pride Park as the two sides met in the league in August where the Rams were 1-0 victors in what was an uninspiring afternoon of football. However, Derby's form has taken a big step forward since then and Paul Warne's side will be looking forward to the chance to progress to the round of 16.

Veteran defender Craig Forsyth spoke to Rams TV ahead of the game, emphasising that the EFL Trophy is very much an important part of the Rams' season. He said: "We're in it now, we're through the group stages and towards the latter end of it. We want to stay in it and win it and the day out at Wembley Stadium would be a great place to do it. "We've had a weekend off with being out of the FA Cup so everybody is raring to go and hopefully looking forward to getting through to the next round."

Derby come off the back of a 1-0 away win against Port Vale last week giving them four league wins in a row. Forsyth says that it was important for his side to keep the winning streak going, he added: "It was a difficult game. There weren't loads of chances really even though we did create the better of them. It was important to keep the winning run going, it was another win away from home and we're starting to build a bit of momentum."

A goal by Tyreece John-Jules separated the two sides after he scored with his first touch of the game. The Arsenal loanee had been out injured since August and he made a welcome return to the field.

Forsyth said that last Tuesday was a big reward for the striker: "We saw the disappointment when the injuries happened to him and how frustrated he was but everyone has seen the work going on behind the scenes with him.

"The way he's dealt with it and kept going and tried to be good around the place, it's fitting that he got his reward coming on and scoring with his first touch."

The Rams kick off at 7pm this evening at Pride Park and will be hoping to progress to the next round.