DERBY County's players have been warned they will face a fired up Rotherham United side on a high following promotion in their 2014-15 season opener.
The Millers will visit the iPro Stadium on Saturday, August 9, in their first competitive match since clinching promotion to the Championship in the League One play-off final.
Steve Evans' side beat Leyton Orient on penalties 24 hours after Derby's agonising defeat to Queens Park Rangers.
"We know it's going to be a tough game," said Rams coach Paul Simpson.
"They will be coming up on a real high after what happened to them at the end of last season.
"I know from watching their play-off games and from experience of coming up against Steve Evans, he's an enthusiastic guy and he will get them fired up for this one.
"I would imagine they will get some good support coming down the motorway for it, so it's a fantastic game to look forward to."
The fixture could see the return of midfielder Ben Pringle, who has become an influential figure for Rotherham since joining them from Derby.
When the sides last met, Rotherham beat the Rams 2-1 in a League Cup tie at Don Valley Stadium in 2009.
However, Derby, who make their first visit to the Millers' New York Stadium on February 14, have won their past four home matches against the South Yorkshire club, most recently 3-2 in 2004.
Evans will have fond memories of facing the Rams – he led Crawley Town to a shock FA Cup victory against them in 2011.
The Rotherham opener is followed by three successive away games for Steve McClaren's men.
After the long journey to Carlisle United in the first round of the Capital One Cup, they will travel to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, August 16, followed by a midweek trip to Charlton Athletic.
August ends with back-to-back home games against relegated Fulham and Ipswich Town.
After the first international break comes one of the season's most hotly anticipated fixtures – away to arch rivals Nottingham Forest on Saturday, September 13.
The return fixture against Forest is scheduled for Saturday, January 17.
Over Christmas, Derby play host to Norwich City – down from the Premier League – on Saturday, December 20 before a Boxing Day trip to Birmingham City.
Leeds United come to the iPro on Sunday, December 28, with the FA Cup third round taking place over the first weekend of 2015.
At Easter, Derby entertain Watford on Saturday, April 4, before visiting Wigan Athletic on the Monday.
The Rams' league programme concludes with a home match against Reading on Saturday, May 2.
As well as Charlton, McClaren's side face midweek trips to Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Bournemouth and Brighton & Hove Albion.
The return fixtures against Charlton, Bournemouth and Blackpool are also due to be played on a Tuesday night.
Simpson believes the division will be as tough as ever this time around.
"I think it is going to be tough, because as well as the teams coming down, you look at the teams coming up, such as Wolves," he said.
"That's another tough game but another great place to play football.
"Looking through it, there aren't any comfortable months for us in there and that's the beauty of the Championship. They're all real battles.
"I don't think you can ever look at the Championship and say it's going to be an easy season.
"There are always teams who are starting however many millions better off because of the parachute payments – and that's exactly the same this season.
"But that doesn't matter – it's about going out and performing how we know we're capable of.
"If we do that and get a performance, we know we'll get a result on many occasions."
Now the fixtures are out, the sense of anticipation is already starting to build ahead of the squad reporting for pre-season training next week, according to Simpson.
"It's like the first day of the season, really," he said.
"This is when everyone starts to really think about it.
"All the planning and preparation can start now.
"Now we know what we've got to do.
"We know we start against Rotherham on August 9 and it gives us something to look forward to."
cwatson@derbytelegraph.co.uk
