Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie has admitted that he believes that Derby County have every chance of avoiding relegation this season and has insisted that a change in management at Reading could potentially be a game-changer in the battle for survival.
Veljko Paunovic left the Royals following their 3-2 victory over Preston North End last weekend with the club opting to draft in Paul Ince and Michael Gilkes on an interim basis.
When you consider that Ince and Gilkes have not held roles as managers since 2014 and 2016 respectively, it will be intriguing to see whether this duo are capable of guiding Reading to safety.
Derby are only five points behind the Royals in the Championship standings and will be keen to close this particular gap by picking up positive results in their upcoming clashes with Millwall and Luton Town.
The Rams will be relatively confident heading into these clashes as they managed to hold both of these sides to draws during the reverse fixtures.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Sky Sports EFL Podcast about Derby's survival hopes, Hendrie said: "If they keep going the way that they are going, I think they have got every chance of getting out of it.
"And I do feel the change in manager from Reading, I feel that could possibly be a bit of a game-changer, I really do."
The Verdict
Although Derby will unquestionably be keeping a close eye on Reading's results, their main priority will be to pick up as many points as possible between now and the end of the season.
By putting the Royals under a significant amount of pressure, their Championship rivals may falter under the guidance of Ince and Gilkes.
Set to face a Millwall outfit tomorrow who have won their last two fixtures in the second-tier, Derby know that they will need to be at their very best at Pride Park if they are to secure all three points in this showdown,
Providing that they do go on to defeat the Lions, the Rams could potentially use the momentum gained from this result to their advantage in the coming months as they aim to retain their Championship status for another season.