Brighton v Derby
Sky Bet Championship
Venue: The American Express Community Stadium
Date: Friday 10th March 2017
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Christopher Kavanagh
Assistants: Mark Pottage, John Flynn
Fourth official: Andy Davies
Brighton striker Chuba Akpom (knee) could feature having resumed training.
Shane Duffy is sidelined for six weeks (broken metatarsal), with centre-back Uwe Huenemeier set to deputise again. Fellow defenders Gaetan Bong and Sebastian Pocognoli are still out.
Derby County are waiting on the fitness of defender Richard Keogh and midfielder Bradley Johnson.
Keogh has missed three matches with a calf injury and Johnson injured a shin in the 1-1 draw with Preston.
Centre-half Jason Shackell (back) and forward Nick Blackman (knee) are both still unavailable.
New Brighton signing Vegard Forren is "not up to speed" according to manager Chris Hughton and his fitness will be assessed in the coming days.
Brighton manager Chris Hughton told BBC Sussex: "Our home form has always been key to the position we've had in this division, particularly over the past couple of seasons in my time here.
"We certainly put great importance on that, but we're in a division where the top end is pushing very hard at the moment. We have to anticipate that the teams in that group are not going to lose many games.
"You have to have the mindset of winning your home games, but we also know we've got away games where we'll have to get victories as well."
Derby manager Steve McClaren told BBC Radio Derby: "The pressure will be on Brighton. They had a little wobble, got a win on Tuesday, and need to win. That is the pressure they are under.
"We need to follow up the past two performances, apart from the last 20 minutes against Preston.
"The players have shown fantastic attitude and commitment; I can't fault the effort. It's just the mentality to see games out."
ANALYSIS
BBC Sussex's Johnny Cantor:
The victory over Rotherham will go some way to restoring confidence after two defeats, but the game at home to Derby represents a bigger challenge.
Playing on a Friday, the Seagulls can put more pressure on third-placed Huddersfield with a win, but will need to find their 'A' game to beat an unpredictable Rams side.
Ravaged by injuries to four key defenders, Chris Hughton will want his team to add to their record of 18 clean sheets in the league and has a big decision to make wide left with so many options at his disposal.
MATCH FACTS
[*=left]Excluding play-off matches, Brighton have only lost one of their past six home league games against Derby (W3 D2).
[*=left]The Rams' last clean sheet away at Brighton in all competitions came at the Withdean Stadium in November 2005, with Lee Camp in goal for Derby that day.
[*=left]Brighton have kept the most clean sheets in the Championship this season (18) while Derby have kept the second most (16) - the reverse fixture between the sides on the opening day finished 0-0.
[*=left]Derby have only scored in one of their past six away league games, winning 3-0 at Ipswich in January.
[*=left]The Seagulls' defeat against Newcastle in their last home match ended a run of 14 league games without defeat at the Amex Stadium - they have not lost consecutive home games since a run of three in January 2016.
[*=left]No side has conceded more goals from corners in the Championship this season than Derby (10).
