New Derby County head coach Paul Clement will be hoping his first managerial victory will come soon rather than later as his side shapes up to face Middlesbrough on Tuesday night.

It has been a frustrating couple of weeks for the former Real Madrid assistant, beginning with a disappointing performance in his opening league game in a 0-0 draw with Bolton Wanderers before his Derby side were dumped out of the Capital One Cup at the first hurdle by League Two outfit Portsmouth.

Things have improved massively of late for the 43-year-old but despite a largely dominant performance, the Rams were held by an efficient Charlton Athletic side at the iPro Stadium on Saturday.

Meanwhile Tuesday's visitors, Middlesbrough, have a made a positive start to the new campaign on the back of their Championship play-off final defeat last season.

Boro were also held to a 0-0 stalemate on the opening weekend of the season against newly-promoted Preston North End before securing an impressive 3-0 victory against Bolton on Saturday, with their League Cup success away to Crewe Alexandra sandwiched between their two opening league fixtures.

Team news

Derby have no new injury news to report following Clement's first competitive game at the iPro on Saturday.

Scottish midfielder Craig Bryson remains sidelined through a knee injury while England U21 international Will Hughes faces a lengthy lay-off after suffering anterior cruciate ligament damage in the first half of Derby's 0-0 draw at the Macron Stadium.

Clement may look to freshen things up in what is already proving to be a busy season for the Midlands side with three games inside six days as Derby travel West to face Birmingham City on Friday.

Striker Chris Martin will be hoping his first goal of the season on Saturday will be enough to retain his spot as the leading figure in Derby's attack as he looks to open his account further.

As for Karanka's Middlesbrough side, they have no new absentees to report, as they look to push on from Saturday's victory.

Summer loan signing Diego Fabbrini was extremely impressive in that 3-0 victory, especially in the first half, which will all but secure him a starting place for the Reds on Tuesday. Meanwhile Spanish striker Kike is likely to keep his place after his brace on the weekend, with Ben Gibson unlikely to return from his hamstring injury.

Midfielder Stewart Downing is still in search of his first goal since returning to Boro in a £7million move from West Ham United in the summer and he will be hoping this can come in what is a huge game, even at this early stage of the season.

On the media front

In his pre-match press conference, Derby boss Clement spoke of the satisfaction he had with Saturday's 1-1 draw with Charlton on Saturday; he said: "To create 27 shooting chances on Saturday and complete a large amount of passes was very good. The performance was pleasing."

Clement was also confident his side would recapture the form that lead them to top the Championship table last season: "We've made a lot of changes so I believe we will only get stronger as the games go by. We don't want it to take too much time."

Meanwhile his opposite number was keen to praise the Rams, stating: "They have a very good team and coach. I'm sure Paul Clement will be a success."

Karanka also spoke of the strength and depth that he possesses within his squad this season compared to the last, adding that the "quality of the squad is very good... We have more experience in the team."

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About the author
Ben Betts
Ben joined the VAVEL team in June 2014 and has since gone on to become an active member of both The Football League and Serie A offices. At the age of 19 he is currently on a gap year, working at a local college before he embarks on a Finance, Accounting and Management degree at the University of Nottingham.