Wayne Rooney's Derby County will be looking to extend the gap between themselves and the relegation zone with three points against Mark Warburton's Queens Park Rangers.

Derby are currently 21st in the Championship and are now two points clear of the relegation zone after their 1-0 win against Bournemouth on Tuesday evening.

Meanwhile, QPR are four places above them in 17th place but have picked up form of late, losing one of their last six. A win on Saturday could take them to 15th.

Team news

QPR are going to be without midfielder Tom Carroll after he suffered a knee injury against Luton Town, with him expected to be out for three months. He joins midfielder Luke Amos on the long-term injury list, with Amos being out until the end of the season.

There is some good news for the Hoops though, as Lee Wallace returned to training this week and could make a return to the squad having not played since early December.

Derby are still without Curtis Davies who is out until the end of the season. Rooney confirmed that Jack Stretton is seeing a specialist about his groin, so he will miss out too.

Tom Lawrence is nearing his return to the squad but isn't ready for Saturday, while David Marshall is still out with an illness.

Predicted lineups

QPR:

Dieng; Kane, Dickie, Cameron, Barbet, Hamalainen, Ball, Chair, Willock, Dykes, Austin.

Derby County:

Roos; Evans, Wisdom, Clarke, Byrne, Shinnie, Bielik, Buchanan, Jozwiak, Kazim-Richards, Knight.

Ones to watch

Charlie Austin

QPR had been needing a striker to score them the goals after Jordan Hugill and Ebere Eze left in the summer, and Austin has made an instant impact at the club where he spent his best years.

He signed on loan from West Bromwich Albion earlier this month and has played twice, scoring in his first appearance back as they beat Luton Town. They will be hoping that get back to the form that propelled QPR towards promotion in 2014.

Krystian Bielik

After long injury problem which kept him out for most of last season, the Pole has returned to the team in style. He has already scored twice this term but his defensive awareness has made him one of the most in-form players in the league right now.

Previous meetings

The last time these two met was in early November when Macaulay Bonne scored an 88th minute winner to secure all three points at Pride Park for QPR, however, the most notable meeting between these two in recent years was the play-off final in 2014, when Bobby Zamora scored a last-minute winner to send QPR back to the Premier League.

How to watch

This match will kick-off at 15:00 pm on Saturday, January 23, and is available to watch by purchasing a QPR+ pass for £10.