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Tom Lawrence has been suspended ahead of Derby's fixture at Leeds on Saturday, after picking up five yellow cards in just seven league games.

The midfielder started the season in fine form scoring a brace for the Rams away at a recently relegated Huddersfield Town side.

Philip Cocu would have hoped his side could have pushed on from that but they couldn't, and nor could Lawrence. The opening day victory has turned out to be the only win of the season so far for last season's beaten play-off finalists.

With Lawrence suspended, many Rams fans think their task at Elland Road has got much harder on Saturday, but it might be a chance and an opportunity for Derby to try something different both tactically and in terms of personnel.

The Rams currently sit 19th in the league table, and will be looking for inspiration from a different source when they travel to Elland Road on Saturday in the lunchtime kick-off. Cocu has many different options to swap Lawrence out for, including Florian Jozefzoon, Jamie Paterson and youngster Jason Knight.

It'll be interesting to see what the boss goes for as he looks to try and get a result at the impressive league leaders.

If Derby want to try and hit Leeds on the counter-attack, they could look to play with a back five that uses the width, with Scott Malone or Jozefzoon as the left-sided wing-back. That would allow the Rams to sit-back without possession but look to break fast whilst still having appropriate defensive cover.

However, if Derby want to stick with their 4-2-3-1 formation, then Paterson could be a like-for-like replacement on the left, whilst Jason Knight could come in to become a third central-midfielder in the side.

Alongside the names mentioned, there is also Everton loanee, Kieran Dowell, who was left on the bench last time out against Neil Warnock's Cardiff side.

Dowell hasn't had the sort of start that he would have wanted at Derby, and Cocu dropped him from the side after a number of poor performances. The stage is set for a hero on Saturday when the Rams travel to Leeds, and this could be the type of game where the youngster finally endears himself to the Derby County faithful.

Yet, whatever side Derby put out on Saturday, they have to hope that they perform better than they have done in the opening seven fixtures.