The referee for Saturday's trip to Pride Park will be David Webb, who has a significant number of games officiating the two clubs over the years.
The Lancashire match official is in his 11th season on the EFL lists and is taking charge of his fourth game of the season, having issued four cautions in his first three games, the last of which was Brentford's 2-0 home win over Sheffield Wednesday.
It is early 2016 since both clubs last saw the referee, despite him doing a combined 16 PNE and Rams games since the start of the 2009 season. That season he refereed Derby's first game of the season, as they lost at Rotherham United and just two weeks later, North End's 2-0 home win over Peterborough United.
Since then he has refereed PNE on ten occasions, some of the most memorable games including the FA Cup win at Wycimbe Wanderers, when Kevin Davies scored a stunning strike from 35 yards and a 3-2 home win opver Crewe Alexandra in 2011.
Derby, meanwhile, have had him take the whistle for six games, their only victory in those fixtures beting a 3-0 home triump over Sheffield Wednesday in November 2013.
At Pride Park he will be joined by Mark Russell and James Wilson, who will run the lines, whilst the fourth official is Peter Wright.