Phillip Cocu has made a positive start to life as Derby County manager.

His Rams sit sixth with four points from two Championship games and beat Scunthorpe United on Tuesday to confirm their place in the second round of the Carabao Cup.

Frank Lampard and a number of last season’s key men left the club in the summer but it does not seem to have impacted Derby so far, and it appears Cocu has instilled some real confidence in his side.

The Dutchman will likely be confident of extending his unbeaten run in English football as Derby travel to the Bet 365 Stadium to face an out of form Stoke City on Saturday.

The Potters picked up their first win over the season against Wigan Athletic in the Carabao Cup in midweek but are still without any points in the Championship.

Stoke will surely line up in Nathan Jones’ signature 4-4-2 diamond formation but how will Cocu set his side up for their trip to the North West?

On-loan goalkeeper Ben Hamer showed his quality on debut in midweek but I don’t think he has done enough to take the number one jersey from Kelle Roos–who looks set to return to the side.

Another summer signing on debut, Krystian Bielik put in an excellent performance against Scunthorpe but Cocu has suggested he may not be quite ready yet, so Richard Keogh and Matt Clarke are likely to reprise their roles at centre-back.

The injury to Jayden Bogle is a real blow but Max Lowe is a more than capable replacement for him at right-back.

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Teenager Lee Buchanan sparkled in his first senior appearance in midweek and will likely have given the Dutch coach a selection headache but Scott Malone still looks set to start on the left side of defence.

I can’t see Cocu moving away from his preferred 4-3-3 formation and Tom Huddlestone, Kieran Dowell and George Evans have done a good job in the centre of the park so far–it appears likely that they will keep their places.

Tom Lawrence has been in fabulous form this season, scoring twice already, and you can bank on him starting on the left side of Derby’s front three.

New signing Jamie Paterson looked a little rusty against Scunthorpe, so it seems as if Florian Jozefzoon will keep his spot on the right flank.

Martyn Waghorn is yet to score for the Rams this season but appears to be Cocu’s first-choice striker, with Jack Marriott on the bench as a potential replacement.