Just over a year ago, in Steve McLaren's first away game in charge of Derby, he came to Watford and had to fight extremely hard. Twice Derby took the lead, twice Watford fought back, before McLaren's men won 3-2. There was similar drama this time round, as Watford equalised after 67 minutes, only for Craig Bryson to ensure Derby remained on top of the Championship, with a thunderous strike from 25 yards.
The state of mind of these teams going into this game was diametrically opposed. In their last game before the international break, Derby were rampant and beat Wolves 5-0 at the iPro stadium, a result which took them top of the Championship. Watford, by contrast, lost at Ipswich, having also managed somehow to lose away against Birmingham at the start of the month. The break may have been something of a blessing for Slavisa Jokanovic, the Watford manager. He had two weeks to work his players out of that mini-slump, just as his side had inched their way into the top six.
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