Opposition View: Steve McClaren

- Steve McClaren expects a tough evening for Derby County against Leicester City at King Power Stadium on Wednesday night

- The Rams missed the first opportunity to book an Emirates FA Cup fifth round tie away to League 1 Milwall at Pride Park last month

- Wes Morgan scored a late equaliser at Derby to seal a reply and Claudio Ranieri has stated he is keen to progress in the FA Cup

- McClaren admits he may rotate some of his players to compensate for the hectic Sky Bet Championship schedule this month

The Rams on home soil last month with Wes Morgan scoring a late equaliser, meaning both sides must now lock horns again at King Power Stadium. 

McClaren, whose outfit suffered defeat to Newcastle United in the Sky Bet Championship at the weekend, expects another difficult evening in the East Midlands and says the Foxes have been improving in recent weeks. 

“We missed a great opportunity,” he told Derby's official website on Tuesday. “It was a great advert for the game and for FA Cup football and there will be another one tomorrow night. It will be a great atmosphere and we have to deal with that. 

“People keep saying [it is a free hit] about certain games. Believe me, when you’re sat in this chair, what is a free bit? You’ve got a job to do in every game, be it a friendly, a cup game, a league game. 

“We’ll have nearly 5,000 fans there, it’ll be on the BBC. They’re the Premier League champions, no matter what their troubles are. I saw their first 40 minutes against Manchester United and they killed them for 40 minutes. 

“They’re still a good side. I know exactly what they’re going through. They have to win this next game. That’s the pressure for them at the moment. It’s so, so important for their confidence, to build up to the game on Sunday.” 

McClaren hinted that he may use the full depth of his squad on Wednesday evening with the fixture schedule list beginning to bite both sides' efforts to achieve their respective objectives this season. 

He added: “We will pick as strong a side as possible. For us, had the game been Tuesday night I would have picked a totally different team to the one I'll pick tomorrow night because we have only two days' recovery before a massive game Saturday, and another on Tuesday (against Cardiff City). 

"I have to use the squad. There are players coming back and it is a perfect game to use the squad. We will make changes. It will be a strong team. 

“I don't believe in 'this is our strongest team' and 'that is our strongest team' - it is a team we will put out to win the game.”

Keep up-to-date with all of the build-up ahead of kick-off with our .