PRE-MATCH INTERVIEW: Forsyth previews Saturday’s early kick-off against Wrexham

Craig Forsyth has given his assessment of the early stages of Derby County's 2025/26 season ahead of their trip to North Wales on Saturday to take on Wrexham.

The long-serving defender has recently been honoured as part of the club’s Walk of Fame installation at Pride Park Stadium, and he registered his 388th appearance for the Rams in last Saturday’s 1-0 loss against Preston North End.

Despite the result, Derby are looking to continue their positive away form when they head to the Racecourse Ground to face opponents Wrexham on Saturday (12:30pm kick-off).

The Rams have picked up four points from their last two away matches, with a 2-2 draw against Ipswich Town at the end of August and a maximum points haul in a 1-0 success over West Bromwich Albion a fortnight ago.

Forsyth spoke to RamsTV to reflect on the opening stages of the campaign, discuss his inclusion in the Walk of Fame and preview the weekend’s encounter with Wrexham.

On the feeling after six games of the 2025/26 league campaign…

We are probably disappointed, as we feel that we should have more points on the board, but I think there are promising signs. There was a big change in the turnover of players, so that ultimately takes time as well. Everybody's settling in well, and now it's time to get our heads down and kick on.

On the pitch, it's all about building those relationships with each other (after 13 new summer signings), playing with each other, and you only form better relationships with time and exposure to playing games and training. That's the main thing, and it's just getting everybody settled into their new way of training, the environment, the surroundings - so it can take time.

On last weekend’s 1-0 loss to Preston…

Coming off the back of the 1-0 win at West Brom, getting a good result, it was disappointing. We wanted to come back home and get started there as well, but it was disappointing not to pick up any points, and I feel there are certainly things to improve on.

On facing Wrexham for the first time in his career…

With the publicity they have had, you kind of dip in and out and read bits. There have been players that I've played with here that have gone to Wrexham too, so I kind of follow it through their story as well. It's obviously an amazing story the way it's happened, and they're going to be looking to take the next step in the Championship. We're going to come up against them on Saturday and we want to come back with three points.

On being featured in the Pride Park Walk of Fame installation…

It was a bit of a shock, to be honest! And then finding out who else was included brought it even more to light how shocked I was to be included in that list. I’m so massively privileged to be included in that and can only thank the club and the fans for that.

I went down with the kids one night (to see the Walk of Fame), and they were looking for me and climbing over everything! It was good to show them that, and it is a lovely touch from the club. The kids love coming to the games as well. It's a nice thing for them to be able to go and look at, as well.