Derby coach Rosenior has admiration for Cobblers and their style of football ahead of FA Cup replay

First-team coach Liam Rosenior says Derby County have shown Northampton the utmost respect by doing detailed preparation for tomorrow's FA Cup fourth round replay at Pride Park.

Cobblers are two divisions below their esteemed opponents but drew 0-0 in the original tie at the PTS 11 days ago and have yet to lose any game in any competition since Boxing Day.

But aside from a blip against bottom side Luton Town last week, Derby are also in fine fettle and go into Tuesday's tie on the back of a 4-0 win over Stoke City, which lifted them to 13th in the Championship.

They will face a very different challenge against Northampton though, and Rosenior is full of admiration for the work Keith Curle has done this season.

"We approach it as we approach any other game," said the former Fulham and Hull defender, who was appointed as specialist first-team coach at Pride Park shortly after Phillip Cocu's appointment in the summer.

"You can see Northampton's league form - they had a great win at Macclesfield at the weekend and they're flying in their league.

"They showed in the first game against us why they're such a good side. They play a really direct style of football that they're proud of and they should be.

"We're going to have to stand up to that and match their intensity and spirit and hope our quality of play can overcome theirs."

Asked if he expects a different type of encounter from the first game, Rosenior added: "I hope it'll be a different game because the pitch at Pride Park is better and bigger and we're at home so we want to play our passing game and make sure our style of football dominates theirs.

"They're more direct but there's nothing wrong with that and they're really good at it - and we've made sure in our tactical analysis that we've prepared for this game like any league game because Northampton have got a lot of threats in their side."

The winner of Tuesday's tie will face a mouthwatering home clash with Manchester United.

"The FA Cup is a wonderful competition and I really enjoyed going away to Northampton," continued Rosenior.

"It was a real different atmosphere and I was impressed by the way our players stood up to the physical challenge and it'll be another physical challenge on Tuesday.

"We'll have to stand up to it but we also have to play our football and if we do get through, we'll have a fantastic home game against Manchester United."