Mendez-Laing starts: The predicted Derby County XI to face Cambridge on Saturday | OneFootball

The Rams surprisingly decided to change direction last week and let Liam Rosenior, their interim boss, depart in order to replace him with the former Millers boss. With Warne having led Rotherham to promotion on three occasions from the third tier, Derby will feel they are in safe hands under their new manager.

They will likely be full of confidence then heading into this one but Cambridge shouldn’t be taken lightly. Their manager Mark Bonner has done a superb job taking them up the divisions in the EFL and they are currently just outside the play-offs too in League One.

Ahead of this first fixture for Warne then, here is how the Rams could line up.

With Warne as their new manager, there is every chance that he could try and implement more of the style and the formation that brought him so much success at Rotherham. That would mean some slight tweaks to make the club play more like a 5-3-2 instead.

There shouldn’t be much personnel change though and with the boss admitting there aren’t too many injuries to worry about, it means he has a pretty full squad to choose from as well. Still, there might only be one or two changes from the side that featured last time out, even if they were managed by Rosenior.

The central back three of Eiran Cahsin, Curtis Davies, and James Chester should stay the same considering they conceded only once in their last fixture and that all three have been reliable and solid so far this campaign. Likewise, Haydon Roberts and Tom Barkhuizen have been excellent on both wings and are both attacking too to be able to play as wing-backs.

Further forward and Conor Hourihane was the main man for Derby last time out and is arguably playing below his level. He is a certain starter and Louie Sibley is another talented name alongside him. Jason Knight did feature in the last game but was further forward, whereas here he could be pushed back and more centrally to make way for another striker in this formation.

That leads to a front two rather than a front one of David McGoldrick, who also scored in the last game, and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing who was sharp when he came off the bench against Wycombe and has Championship experience. The two of them have plenty of know-how and goalscoring ability between them, so could become a trusted pairing under Warne.