"Better than I expected" - Dean Saunders issues fresh Derby County 2024/25 prediction | OneFootball

Dean Saunders exclusively spoke to Football League World about former side Derby County

Former Derby County forward Dean Saunders has backed his former side to remain in the Championship this season despite enduring a tough run of recent form.

The Rams gained promotion from League One at the second time of asking last season, returning to the Championship automatically just behind title winners Portsmouth.

By and large, Paul Warne's side were tipped as the club most likely to struggle in the second-tier out of all three newly-promoted teams, although they've embarked upon a stronger return to life in the division than both Portsmouth and Oxford United.

Indeed, Derby have been stronger than many had expected after one third of the 2024/25 Championship campaign by winning five and drawing four of their first 15 fixtures, and head into November's international break in 12th-place.

They have, however, endured something of a slump as of late. While Warne's team have been typically tough to beat, grinding out four draws in their last six matches, just one of those resulted in victory and there is concern about how Derby manage to break down the opposition.

Dean Saunders issues 2024/25 Derby County prediction

Despite winning just once in their six most recent outings, ex-Rams man Saunders has played down concerns and believes that his former club will continue to perform above expectations for the duration of the campaign.

The Welshman is still fondly remembered in Derbyshire to this very day, having enjoyed an impressively-prolific two-year spell with the Rams before joining Liverpool for a then-British transfer record fee of £2.9 million.

When quizzed on whether his old club should be worried about relegation to League One, Saunders exclusively told Football League World: "Derby shouldn’t be concerned about this. They got promoted last season and the Championship is a tough league. They are doing ok.

"They need to consolidate and keep picking up points but the good thing is they are not in the relegation zone and sitting amongst a number of teams in the middle of the table.

"They are doing better than I expected at this stage, so this is credit to the players and manager. You have a few stronger teams with a bigger squad, but Derby have a strong support and this can be good as well. I back them to stay up this season for sure."

Saunders added: "They need to learn from each game, improve and be more clinical and look to concede less. But they have a basis of a team who can improve which is the main thing.

"I don’t have a massive concern, I believe they are on the right track."

Derby County's home form will be key to Championship survival

Saunders' prediction is corroborated by the league table after 15 games, which suggests that Derby shouldn't really find themselves in any form of relegation bother this term, and their home form will be integral to keeping their heads well above the water.

The Pride Park factor has already come up trumps on multiple occassions this season, with the Rams having lost just once on home soil - the same number of times as Leeds United, who top the table by measure of home form.

Derby were left frustrated on Saturday afternoon as they failed to pick up all three points against Wayne Rooney's Plymouth Argyle, who have the division's worst away record by some distance and are yet to win on the road, but it's looking like they're not going to lose many games at Pride Park and that's an overwhelming positive moving forwards.

Backed by an impassioned home crowd, Pride Park is invariably a tough place to go and return with maximum points for visiting teams.

That was a driving force behind their promotion last season and they'll need to retain Pride Park's status as something of a fortress to keep themselves nestled in the mid-table standings.