Derby County know they must keep winning if they are to keep alive their slim chances of snatching a spot in the Championship's play-off positions ahead of their meeting against Preston North End to Pride Park tonight.

The Rams currently lie eleven points from the top six with eleven matches of the campaign remaining, and they will need to take three points in the majority of those if they are to be a part of the end of season lottery.

Steve McClaren’s men bounced back from successive 1-0  defeats away at Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers respectively with a 2-1 victory over Barnsley at Pride Park on Saturday, and they will be looking for a similar outcome when they host Simon Grayson’s side in midweek.

Preston are one place and one point ahead of County, so it certainly won’t be an easy task for the east Midlands outfit, and they will need their stars to be on form.

Here are THREE Derby players that must start against North End…

David Nugent

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After failing to score in three successive Championship matches, Steve McClaren needed his strikers to step up and find the net against Barnsley on Saturday, and January transfer window signing Nugent did exactly that.

The attacker’s deflected effort – his first for the club – proved to be the winning goal in the 2-1 victory and he will be full of confidence and keen to bag another against North End, the team with whom he first made his name with.

Tom Ince

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As we mentioned previously, Derby had struggled in front of goal in recent weeks, and that is when you need your big players to step up to the plate.

Despite the fact that it would have been easy for heads to drop when the Tykes took the lead, Ince wasn’t affected and he scored the equalising goal just two minutes later.

The forward, who has had more shots on target (47) than any other Championship player this season, also hit the post before David Nugent’s winning strike, showing just how influential he can be for Steve McClaren’s men.

Darren Bent

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The experienced striker missed the defeats at Aston Villa and Blackburn – in which Derby were goalless – because of injury and illness, but is now back in training and could return to the starting line-up tonight.

Steve McClaren is clearly a big fan of Bent – who has nine Championship goals to his name this term – and his clinical finishing could be needed in what is expected to be a tough test against Preston at Pride Park.