Mon 24 Nov - Posted in Breaking News
Time to read: 5mins
Derby County face an away double header in the Sky Bet Championship this week - starting with Tuesday night's visit to Swansea City (7:45pm kick-off).
Following the two-week international break earlier this month, the Rams are back in action in the second tier with a typically-demanding three-game week.
John Eustace's side got their 2025/26 schedule back under way at the weekend with a 3-2 loss at Pride Park Stadium against Watford for their first defeat in month and, following Tuesday's encounter at Swansea, they will make the journey north to take on Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Swansea, meanwhile, recently parted company with Head Coach Alan Sheehan and went down 3-0 at Bristol City on Saturday under the guidance of Caretaker Manager Darren O'Dea.
Tickets for Tuesday night's match are now OFF SALE.
Supporters without a ticket for the match are advised not to travel to Swansea as the hosts will not offer the option to purchase on the day of the game.
Swansea’s start to the 2025/26 season has been symptomatic of the Championship; packed with ups and downs.
The Swans parted company with Head Coach Alan Sheehan after just over six months as the club's permanent boss at the start of the November international break.
The Irishman had a spell in caretaker charge before landing the role on a permanent basis in the latter stages of the 2024/25 campaign, following the departure of Luke Williams.
Sheehan, 39, oversaw four league wins from the Swans' opening 15 matches in the league this season.
“In the wake of a disappointing run, it is felt results and performances do not meet the standards expected at this stage of the season, and we have had to take this difficult decision,” a club statement said when confirming the departure of Sheehan.
“The process to appoint a new head coach is already under way. We will update supporters on this process once it has been concluded.”
Swansea started the season well, winning two and drawing two of their first five league matches.
They also reached Round Four of the Carabao Cup following wins over Crawley Town, Plymouth Argyle and Nottingham Forest, eventually losing out to Premier League big-hitters Manchester City last month.
In fact, the Swans only lost twice in the opening eight games of the league season and those were both narrow 1-0 defeats on the road at Middlesbrough and Birmingham City.
Since then, however, it has been a bit of a mixed bag. They’ve lost five of their last eight Championship matches and three in succession, including a 3-0 reverse at Bristol City on Saturday following the November international window.
As ever in the Championship, things can change around very quickly and the Swans will be looking for a switch in fortune sooner rather than later.
They will certainly be hoping the appointment of Vitor Matos as their head coach on a four-year contract on Monday starts their move up the league standings.
The former Liverpool elite development coach has joined from Portuguese second-tier club Maritimo, where he took up his first senior managerial role in June.
“We spoke to a range of candidates and Vitor was the clear stand-out with a cohesive plan of how to take our squad forward, ” said Swansea's Chief Executive Tom Gorringe.
“Vitor has spent over a decade working at elite clubs, and has been a trusted figure for some of the best coaches operating in the modern game.
“He is committed to playing an attacking brand of football, and to developing players technically and tactically, and we are sure supporters are going to enjoy watching his Swansea City team in action. ”
One member of Derby County’s current squad has played for Swansea City in Rhian Brewster.
The 25-year-old forward had a successful loan spell with the Swans during the second half of 2019/20 season from Liverpool.
He scored 11 goals in 22 appearances as Swansea reached the play-offs but were beaten by Brentford at the semi-final stage.
Another member of the Rams’ squad, goalkeeper Josh Vickers, had a two-year stint with Swansea earlier in his career but failed to register a senior appearance and was an unused substitute on a single occasion in a 1-1 draw at home to Manchester City on the final day of the 2015/16 campaign.
Vickers' move to Swansea after leaving Arsenal in the summer of 2015 and acted as back-up, while he also spent some time on loan at Barnet in the 2016/17 season prior to his departure.
Other players to have represented the two clubs in recent years include Derby’s 2023/24 promotion-winning duo Conor Hourihane and Korey Smith, defender Cyrus Christie, goalkeeper Ben Hamer, attacking midfielders Jamie Paterson and Kasey Palmer, striker Jerry Yates and forward Morgan Whittaker.
RamsTV caught up with Head Coach
John Eustace to look ahead to the clash with the Swans.
RamsTV also spoke with goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterström
to review the clash with the Swans and look back on his recent international
experience with Sweden, winning his first competitive cap in their 2026 FIFA
World Cup qualifier against Slovenia.
Andrew Kitchen has been appointed as the referee for Tuesday night's match.
Kitchen has taken charge of 13 matches so far this season across the Premier League and EFL, showing 36 yellows and one red card.
He was in charge of the Rams' 2-1 loss at Premier League Burnley in Round Two of the Carabao Cup back in August.
Conor Brown and Hristo Karaivanov will be the assistant referees, while Stephen Martin has been named as the fourth official.
Live audio commentary for all of Derby County’s first team matches in
the 2025/26 season - both league and cup fixtures - is available to
RamsTV Audio subscribers based both in the UK and internationally.
Information about RamsTV's Video Live Streaming and other services for this season can be found here.
Full match reaction will be available on dcfc.co.uk and the Derby County App shortly after full time, with highlights and a full match replay available from midnight.
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