The Rams have two events this week with an unmistakable Premier League flavour about them. Both will tell us something about the Rams' top flight aspirations, our chances of getting there and the difficulty of life at the top.

The two matches in question are last Sunday's FA Cup match against Chelsea and this coming Friday's league match at Leicester. Two matches that were always going to be a test of exactly how strong the squad has become at DCFC.

The Chelsea match was never likely to offer the Rams a good chance of progress in the cup, but it provided a nice pay day and a reminder of what the best club sides in Europe look like.

The Rams - as has been detailed elsewhere on RamZone - fought bravely and with a good deal of skill in losing 2-0. It was really too bad for the Rams who were without Bryson and Keogh; both of whom could have made a difference.

The Rams might have made life easier for themselves with better delivery from free kicks and corners; ours was woeful and wasteful.

Another point that has occurred to me, since Steve McClaren likes players who have a Premier League pedigree rather than having come up from the lower divisions and non-league, some Rams players are more vulnerable than others. Among the Rams' players from humble origins, Jake Buxton showed that lads with his background can definitely play a bit; while Jamie Ward did his case little good.

But now the glamour of Chelsea is behind us and its back to reality and the grind of the Championship.

On Friday we visit the King Power Stadium to take on Leicester City. For me, Leicester looks like the strongest team in this division, and are quite likely to finish in the top two. If the Rams are to consider themselves worthy of partnering the Foxes at the pinnacle of the table, then we need a result on Friday.

We have been beaten twice by Leicester already this season: a 1-0 home defeat in the third League game of the season and a 2-1 away defeat in the League Cup in September.

If we lose on Friday, it will start to look as though they are a better team than us and that our long run of success may be running out of steam.

Leicester's recent form is good; since losing at Brighton in early December, they have drawn with Burnley and then beaten QPR, Reading, Bolton and Millwall.

On the flip side - their defence is not watertight and we are the division's top scorers.

This would be a great time to achieve a win, which would be easily our best result of the season so far.

A win at Leicester and we can think seriously about playing Chelsea again next season...

Photo: Action Images

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