Derby To Round Off Pre-Season Against Hoffenheim

Derby County will round off their pre-season games programme against German top-flight side TSG 1899 Hoffenheim at Pride Park Stadium this afternoon.

Gary Rowett’s men will face a stern test against a Hoffenheim side that finished fourth in the Bundesliga during 2016/17 and the new-season’s curtain-raiser – away to Sunderland on Friday 4th August – is fast approaching.

This afternoon’s game, which will be Derby’s first on home turf during pre-season, will get underway at 3pm.

It’s also the last chance for the players to impress and stake a further claim for a starting spot on the opening day at the Stadium of Light and beyond.

Derby have played six games to date in pre-season and picked up four wins, as well as one draw and one defeat.

The four victories were recorded against Kidderminster Harriers (4-0), Macclesfield Town (2-0), Port Vale (1-0) and German side Kaiserslautern (2-0), with the single draw coming against Doncaster Rovers (1-1).

Their only defeat came earlier this week as the Rams went down 1-0 at Northampton Town.

Rowett has a strong squad to select from today with forwards Matej Vydra and Nick Blackman back in training after recovering from injury.

The pair have been out of action for the last fortnight but took part in training on Friday and could feature in this afternoon’s match.

Squad for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim: Carson, Mitchell, Roos, Baird, Wisdom, Davies, Keogh, Pearce, Forsyth, Olsson, Butterfield, Bryson, Huddlestone, Hanson, Johnson, Anya, Bennett, Russell, Weimann, Blackman, Martin, Nugent, Vydra.

Supporters can watch today’s game on RamsTV's live stream for FREE - simply by registering an account on dcfc.co.uk.

As ever, a full match report and reaction will also be on dcfc.co.uk and RamsTV after the final whistle.