Derby County host Sheffield Wednesday, looking to recover from suffering a 1-0 defeat at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday which extended their winless run to three Championship matches, while the visitors head into the game with confidence after winning their last two.

The Rams have managed to win five out of their last six home league games, which has allowed them to keep themselves from falling too far down the table after losing five successive away games, and they will be looking to get back to winning ways at home after being held to a 1-1 draw by QPR last time out.

Sheffield Wednesday, meanwhile, have lost just one of their last five games in the league and are beginning to find some real momentum under Garry Monk, although they will be looking to improve their form on the road having won just one of their last five matches on their travels.

The two clubs are separated by just seven points, despite Sheffield Wednesday currently sitting in 6th place and Derby currently being in 16th, which means a win for either side could really decide which direction the two are heading in ahead of the festive period.

Did they play for Derby County? Can you get 18 out of 18?

So far this season Derby have secured just one win against sides currently sitting in the top half of the Championship table, meaning that they face a difficult challenge of extending their positive home form against Sheffield Wednesday.

As ever Sky Sports EFL pundit David Prutton has given his latest round of predictions for the midweek Championship matches, and he has suggested that Derby could suffer their first home defeat August against Sheffield Wednesday.

Speaking to Sky Sports Prutton said: "One word sums up Derby's campaign to date: Inconsistency. Since October 19, bizarrely, they've lost every other league game without scoring a goal.

"Losing by the odd goal to Blackburn at the weekend was nothing to be ashamed of but they need to string a sequence of wins together if they have any hopes of making a dart for the play-offs."

Prutton has tipped Sheffield Wednesday to secure a 2-1 win, which would see Derby lose further ground on the teams in the top half of the table and make it very challenging for them to mount a play-off push this season.

The Verdict

The Sky Sports EFL expert has made a bold prediction here suggesting the Rams could see their impressive home run brought to an end by Sheffield Wednesday, although you can see why he is backing the Owls, who in Steven Fletcher have a striker in real form who could make the difference in the last third.

Derby will be hoping that they can show a response again to a poor result on their travels, which they have managed to do consistently over the last few weeks, with the Rams aiming to close the gap on their opponents to four points with a win.