Derby County will travel 189 miles on Monday night for their away trip to Portsmouth in the Sky Bet Championship (8pm kick-off).
John Eustace’s Rams will arrive at Fratton Park looking to return to winning ways after falling to a narrow defeat away to Millwall last Tuesday.
Portsmouth were also defeated by a one-goal margin on Tuesday, with a 2-1 reverse on home turf against Swansea City.
The points have been shared in the last two meetings between the two sides – a 2-2 draw at Portsmouth in the closing stages of the 2024/25 campaign was followed up by a 1-1 at Pride Park Stadium in December 2025.
Ticket Information
Tickets for the Rams’ trip to Fratton Park go OFF SALE via the Derby County Ticket Office at 12pm on Monday 16th March.
Find out more by clicking here.
Pre-Match Thoughts
Head Coach John Eustace spoke to RamsTV before his team heads to the South coast on Monday night.
Joe Ward also caught up with RamsTV after he committed his future to the club, signing a one-year contract extension in the build-up to Derby’s trip to Portsmouth.
The Opposition
Portsmouth and Derby have tracked each other’s progress over the last three seasons.
Since both achieved automatic promotion to the Championship in 2023/24 – Pompey being crowned as League One Champions – second-tier solidity has been the order of the day on the South Coast.
John Mousinho is now in his third year as Head Coach at Fratton Park, having been appointed to the post in January 2023.
The former Burton Albion and Oxford United centre-back was entrusted with the position at the age of 36 after time as a player-coach at the Kassam Stadium.
He joined in 2022/23 and secured an eighth-place finish before leading Portsmouth to the League One title at the end of his first full season in charge.
Both the Rams and Pompey ended last season fighting for survival, with Portsmouth finishing in 16th, three spots and four points better off than Derby.
This season, Portsmouth sit 20th in the league after 36 matches – 10 wins and 10 draws have the Fratton Park club one point above the drop zone with 10 games remaining.
They do have two games in hand over the rest of the relegation competition, owing to the Monday kick-off and a twice-postponed game against Ipswich Town still yet to be played.
Defender Terry Devlin and midfielder Adrian Segecic lead on Pompey’s goal involvement charts with five goals and one assist each in the league, while winger Josh Murphy has provided five assists.
A familiar face will be at Fratton Park on Monday. Ebou Adams has been an instrumental part of Mousinho’s set-up since the Rams’ promotion-winning defensive midfielder swapped Derbyshire for Hampshire in the January transfer window.
Since bringing to a close his successful spell with the Rams, Adams has continued his fan favourite reputation at Portsmouth, scoring twice and making 13 appearances in the heart of midfield.
Centre-back Madiodio Dia was the only other to arrive for a fee in the winter window, while winger Keshi Anderson joined as a free agent.
Four loan additions were also made. Aji Alese bolstered the defensive ranks from Sunderland, Brazilian winger Gustavo Caballero flew in from Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Santos, and attackers Jacob Brown and Millenic Alli both arrived from Luton Town.
Match Officials
Anthony Backhouse will be the man in the middle on Monday, officiating his 21st Championship fixture this season.
Across his 22 games in all competitions so far in 2025/26, he has shown a total of 99 yellow cards and no red cards.
Backhouse has overseen the Rams twice this term already, holding the whistle at Pride Park Stadium for the visits of Coventry City in August and West Bromwich Albion in January.
Sam Lewis and Hristo Karaivanov have been named as the Assistant Referees, while Josh Smith has been appointed as the Fourth Official.
RamsTV Audio & Video Coverage
Live audio commentary for all of Derby County’s first team matches in the 2025/26 season – both league and cup fixtures – is available to RamsTVAudio subscribers based both in the UK and internationally.
Information about RamsTV’sVideo Live Streaming and other services for this game can be found here.
Highlights & Match Replay
Full match reaction will be available on dcfc.co.uk and the Derby County App shortly after full time, with highlights and a full match replay available from midnight.
