It's going to be 'Wear White Night' on Saturday evening as 
Yes, if you haven't already heard,
Both
Now with all due respect to Mr Glick and Mr Savage, do they realise how cold it's going to be at 5.20 pm in
The t-shirts are going to be placed on every seat inside Pride Park Stadium and my mum's initial reaction was: "How will they know what size we all are?" It made me laugh, but I guess it's a fair point.
A friend of mine, Steve, works in Beeston - he's an Arsenal fan but I don't hold that against him - and he's won tickets to this game from a Rammie community visit to his place of employment. Apart from being impressed by Rammie's bravery in doing valuable missionary work in a 
Finally on this subject, I do appreciate the gesture and the sentiments behind the Fans First initiatives, I just hope it's Majestic Athletic, and not
As for the game itself, I think Steve and Dominic will witness a typically gritty and competitive Coca-Cola Championship game. Not the cultured football played at the Emirates but the frenetic, combative football played one tier below the Premiership.
QPR's away form is average with two wins, one draw, and three defeats in their last six. Rangers are 10th in the Coca-Cola Championship, looking to push towards the playoff places. Derby, as we know, have won four and lost two at home this season, lie 19th in the league table, and are looking to pull away from the relegation dog-fight.
The good news though is that Fredrik Stoor, Lee Hendrie, Buxton, Stephen Pearson, Steve Davies and, hopefully, Deeney will be back in contention for the QPR game. Pearson hasn't played for four weeks and Davies has been out for nine, so I think the best those two can hope for is a place on the bench.
At least there's a new player in midfielder Bryan Hughes. For me, this is an exciting signing because it's a long time since a player with my surname has played for 
Will Hughes start against QPR? Or will he have to settle for a place on the bench? If he does start, Jake Livermore is probably the one most likely to make way but, with Hughes able to play anywhere across the middle, and with Nigel Clough critical of the contribution of both wingers (more so in away games), then either Gary Teale or Lee Croft could find themselves making way. I guess a lot will depend on Hughes' fitness levels and how many players are actually fit enough to play on the day.
I hate the phrase "must win," and I don't think this is a must win game, but it's vital that Derby County pick up as many points as possible at Pride Park Stadium because the Rams seem incapable of picking up points on the road.
These are tough times right now. The Rams aren't playing very well at the moment, but no football club would be living up to expectations if it had 16 senior players unavailable. Liverpool are struggling without two players - Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres - but Derby County have an injury list running well into double figures.
With 30,000 plus expected on Saturday, it's important that the Rams fans get behind the team from the start and keep supporting them vocally for the full 90 minutes, no matter how nervous the team are, no matter how good, bad or indifferent the team plays, no matter what set-backs may come our way.
As our captain Robbie Savage himself has said, booing the team during the game doesn't help. It really doesn't help.
Rams fans want
We can play our part!
Stuart Hughes
23 October 2009