Derby County boss Paul Warne hails impact of Michael Duff at 'difficult' Barnsley as Rams remain without key duo

Just one point and one place separate the play-off rivals with Derby sitting in fifth ahead of the Reds, who have played a game fewer than their League One counterparts. The Rams have won both meetings between the sides this term after winning the first league meeting 2-1 at Pride Park before a 3-0 victory in the FA Cup at the beginning of January.

Warne, who took over at Derby after leaving Rotherham United, feels there is not much between the sides ahead of tomorrow’s key fixture in South Yorkshire.

He said: “It's as big as every other game. Michael and Martin have done a great job there and they've collected more points per game than we have so I appreciate what a difficult opposition they are. They've won five out of their last six and I think they'd won five out of five when we played them in the FA Cup.

“They are in really good form, as are we, they've got really good players, as have we, and they are very well coached, as are we. There's really not a lot to pick between us. We've just got to try and win every game and that's what we'll do.”

Derby are likely to remain without James Chester and Max Bird against Barnsley. Warne added: "Both are doing different rehabs right now. Birdy is a couple of weeks away and Chezzy is even less than that.

“We've got a lot of games in a very short period of time coming up. I've made mistakes in recent weeks of maybe not freshening up enough or too much, so it's a balancing act and it's going to take everyone - including those two.”