Derby County v Rotherham United
Derby have moved on from last year’s play-off heartbreak and they open their campaign against League 1 play-off winners Rotherham.
Derby have had a solid summer with good business and keeping their key assets, especially Craig Bryson who seemed very close to leaving earlier in the summer. The signing of George Thorne from West Brom gave increased optimism to the fans, however Thorne ruptured is ACL in his first pre-season friendly and will spend the vast majority of the season on the sidelines. Do not right Derby off though as they have a very strong squad and with Steve McClaren at the helm, they have a manager who is planning for the Premier League. McClaren penned a new deal that keeps him at the iPro until 2017. The aforementioned Craig Bryson will have the difficult to task of living up to the incredible season he had last time out scoring 16 goals from midfield. After signing a five year deal in the summer Bryson will want to get the season under way with a bang and is this games key man.
Rotherham followed in the footsteps of several sides in achieving back-to-back promotions from League 2 and up through to the Championship. They secured their place in the second tier via the play-off final with a penalty shoot-out win over Leyton Orient after that goal from Alex Revell scored that iconic goal under the Wembley arch. The Millers have had a busy summer bringing in 12 players, 10 of these on free transfers. Rotherham do not have the money to compete with the top sides in the division, but will look at what Bournemouth achieved last season and come into this season with no fear. Steve Evans divides opinions among fans, but he gets results and his bold personality will definitely cause a few headlines this season.
Rotherham will be no pushovers but with Derby’s sights locked on the top two expect them to be too strong for the Championship new boys.
Score prediction: 3-1 Derby win
