May 11, 2018 at 7.45pm UK at ​Pride Park
Attendance: 27,163
DerbyDerby County
1-0
Fulham
Jerome (34')
Weimann (77'), Johnson (86')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Johansen (85')

Gary Rowett: 'Derby County confident ahead of Fulham tie'

Rowett: 'Derby confident ahead of Fulham tie'
© Offside
Gary Rowett is "confident" of getting one over on playoff semi-final opponents Fulham, but insists that Derby County will not copy former side Birmingham City's tactics.

Derby County manager Gary Rowett has insisted that he is feeling "confident" ahead of his side's playoff semi-final tie against Fulham.

The Cottagers head into the two-legged affair as favourites to progress through to the Wembley final later this month, having finished 13 points better off than their opponents at the end of the regular season.

Fulham head into the match on the back of a first defeat in 24 matches, with Rowett's former side Birmingham City finding the magic formula to overcome the in-form Londoners on the final day of the campaign.

Rowett does not intend to copy Birmingham's blueprint, however, telling reporters: "Any team that plays Fulham knows you have to try to limit space because they are a good side and if you give them lots of opportunities to exploit space, they will.

"They make a lot of passes, they are patient in the way they play, they try to drag you out of position and they have got good players. Birmingham did really well because they were incredibly competitive against them, but Birmingham are a different side to us. I know that because I know lots of the players.

"We haven't got [Maikel] Kieftenbeld and [David] Davis in midfield, we haven't got that type of destructive quality. We have got technical players in there that can pass a ball as well as mix it up. I don't think we would ever try to be another team and just copy their gameplan, but what you try to do is look at ways you can hurt Fulham, as you would with any opponent.

"A lot of teams have done that with Fulham over 23 games and no-one seemed to find the solution. We know it will be a tough test, but we are really confident and we cannot wait for the game."

Derby welcome Fulham to Pride Park for the first leg on Friday night, before travelling to Craven Cottage for the return match next Monday.

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Brum boss Steve Cotterill watches on during the Championship game between Birmingham City and Cardiff City on October 13, 2017
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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CWolverhampton WanderersWolves46309782394399
3Fulham462513879463388
4Aston Villa4624111172423083
5Middlesbrough4622101467452276
6Derby CountyDerby4620151170482275
7Preston North EndPreston4619161157461173
8Millwall4619151256451172
9Brentford4618151362521069
10Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd46209176255769
11Bristol City461716136758967
12Ipswich TownIpswich46179205760-360
13Leeds UnitedLeeds46179205964-560
14Norwich CityNorwich461515164960-1160
15Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds461415175960-157
16Queens Park RangersQPR461511205870-1256
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest46158235165-1453
18Hull City461116197070049
19Birmingham CityBirmingham46137263868-3046
20Reading461014224870-2244
21Bolton WanderersBolton461013233974-3543
RBarnsley46914234872-2441
RBurton Albion461011253881-4341
RSunderland46716235280-2837

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