Derby County’s Under-21s will round off their Premier League Cup campaign when they travel to Brighton & Hove Albion on Monday night.
The Under-21s will take on the Seagulls at the Amex Elite Football Performance Centre (7pm kick-off) and dcfc.co.uk has brought together all the key information you will need to know ahead of the game with a win or a draw taking Derby through to the knock-out stages.
Premier League Cup Format...
Mirroring the format of the UEFA Champions League, the Premier League Cup consists of eight four-team groups, with each club playing their opposing teams both home and away.
The Premier League Cup campaign includes Academies from Categories 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Clubs in the third and fourth categories have been competing in qualifiers to join the top-level Academies in the group stage.
Derby County are in Group B alongside Brighton & Hove Albion, AFC Bournemouth and Queens Park Rangers and the full fixture list can be found here.
Team News...
Defender Max Bardell and midfielder Darren Robinson have returned to the fold in recent weeks after injuries and will continue to increase their match sharpness and minutes by featuring against the Seagulls.
Defender Will Grewal-Pollard, midfielder Connor Dixon and forward Sonny Blu Lo-Everton have all been sidelined in recent weeks owing to injury and are unlikely to feature once again.
Jake Rooney, Kwaku Oduroh and Osazee Aghatise could get match minutes after recently being in-and-around the first-team set-up while a number of senior players returned from injury. The trio have appeared in recent matches and are set to be involved once more.
2022/23 Premier League Cup So Far...
Derby County’s Under-21s have seven points to their name from their five Premier League Cup group matches and sit top of Group B - with a win or a draw against the Seagulls taking them to the knock-out stages.
Their group campaign started with a 2-1 loss at AFC Bournemouth in late September, despite taking the lead through defender Harrison Solomon's early goal at the Vitality Stadium.
Pat Lyons' side picked up their first point a few days later as they played out a 1-1 draw with Queens Park Rangers at Loughborough University Stadium with on-loan Chelsea midfielder Joe Haigh scoring late on for the Rams.
A 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion at Loughborough University Stadium saw the Rams pick up their second point of the group stages. They went behind late on to the Seagulls but Cian Kelly-Caprani’s goal deep into added time, direct from a corner, salvaged a late point.
Lyons’
side picked up their first win of the Premier League Cup campaign in November by securing a 2-0 success at Queens Park Rangers.Bartosz
Cybulski and Harrison Solomon’s first half strikes were enough to fire
the Rams to victory.
Last time out, the Rams moved to the top of the table with a convincing 3-0 success over AFC Bournemouth at Moor Farm Training Ground. Darren Robinson, Lennon Wheeldon and Dajune Brown were all on target to secure all three points.
To view the Under-21s' full 2022/23 fixture list, please click here.
Live Stream...
RamsTV is not streaming the game live on Monday night.
Full match highlights from the Premier League Cup clash will appear online on dcfc.co.uk following the match.
