Forest Green Rovers conclude their pre-season preparations with a home fixture against a Derby County XI before next weekend’s trip to Solihull Moors.

Robbie Savage’s side will look to put the defeat against Walsall behind them and build on the earlier success of July’s warm up fixtures.

The Opposition – Derby County

Nickname: ‘The Rams’

The East Midlands side were founded in 1884 and have a storied history, victorious in the first division in 1972 and 1975 as well as FA Cup success in 1946 against Charlton Athletic.

Derby’s last time in the top flight was their infamous 2007/08 campaign.

Last season, influential manager John Eustace helped the Rams to Championship survival by two points having arrived at Pride Park in February 2025.

Pre-Season so far

Derby County travelled to Austria for their pre-season training camp which featured a fixture against Red Bull Salzburg - a match they won 2-1.

Last weekend, they suffered a defeat in the Bass Charity Vase to Burton Albion and will take on Greek side Atromitos at Pride Park on Saturday, August 2.

In The Dugout – John Eustace

The Englishman had extended spells at Coventry City and Stoke City before he became a stalwart in the midfield for Watford in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

Eustace ended his career making 48 league appearances for Derby between 2013 and 2015, then after retirement he went into management at Kidderminster Harriers in 2016.

Two years at Aggborough led to him joining Queens Park Rangers as assistant manager and he got his chance in the EFL as the main man when he took over the helm at Birmingham City - he was sacked in October 2023 despite the Blues occupying a playoff spot in the Championship.

Later that season he joined Blackburn Rovers and then left to join Derby in February 2025, managing to keep them in the second tier on the last day of the season.

Played for both

Ebou Adams spent three years in League Two with Forest Green between 2019 and 2022 where he made 121 appearances and scored 10 goals before joining Cardiff City.

After a short spell in Wales, the 29-year-old left to join Derby where he played 44 league games last season and won their Player of the Year award.

Kane Wilson was teammates with Adams in GL6 and is now alongside him in DE24 with the right-back following a similar career path.

The 25-year-old’s Forest Green career ended with promotion from League Two with Wilson moving on to Bristol City for a season before he joined the Rams and played a key part in their 2023/24 League One promotion campaign.

Haven’t we met before?

The two sides have met three times in competitive action with two of those coming in the 2022/23 League One season, but the most memorable encounter came in the 2008/09 FA Cup at The New Lawn.

In the first 20 minutes, a rocket from Jonathan Smith and Alex Lawless finishing off his one-on-one saw FGR lead 2-0 but a quickfire double just before half-time meant the teams went in level.

Paul Stonehouse had looked to have sent Jim Harvey’s side into the fourth round until there was late heartbreak as Paul Green and Steve Davies turned the tie around and sent Derby through.