THE first-team squads of the Premiership's leading clubs read like a Who's Who of international football: Schmeichel, Giggs and Cantona at Old Trafford; Albert, Shearer and Asprilla at Newcastle; Seaman, Adams and Bergkamp at Arsenal. Look at the Derby County squad, though, and it's more like a Who's That? of the Premiership. Hoult, Rowett, Powell D. and Powell C., Sturridge, Ward . . . the names hardly roll off the tongue, do they? 'No, we're not exactly household names,' admits Darryl Powell, a combative midfield player who joined The Rams for GBP750,000 from Portsmouth in the summer of 1995. 'As far as the players and staff are concerned, we have a hell of a lot of belief in ourselves. 'There are a lot of good players here and maybe in a year's time people will know our names. 'We are getting respect from other teams and other managers and we find it a challenge when we come up against a club like Newcastle, who have spent GBP60 million to build their team.' Powell and his teammates face their biggest day of the season so far tomorrow, when they make the short journey to the City Ground for the East Midlands derby against Nottingham Forest. 'Fans have been coming up to me all week saying this is the most important match of the season,' Powell told Premier Soccer. 'You get the impression that if we turn over Forest, nothing else matters.' The common denominator between Derby and Forest, of course, is Brian Clough, who managed County to the championship in 1972 and followed with Forest in 1978. The teams have met on 62 occasions in the league, with Forest winning 29 of them, Derby 21 and 12 ending in a draw. 'This will be my first 'derby' and I'm very excited about it,' added Powell. 'What makes it more interesting for me is that my next-door neighbour plays for Forest, Scot Gemmill.' Having gained promotion last season, Derby manager Jim Smith is trying to transform a First Division squad into one which can hold its own in the Premiership. And this means an extended period of wheeling and dealing for the 'Bald Eagle' as players come and go at the Baseball Ground. In the past few days alone, Smith has signed the veteran Republic of Ireland central defender Paul McGrath from Aston Villa and allowed striker Marco Gabbiadini to move to Birmingham City on loan. Smith, in fact, has become the 'loan arranger' this season as he also has Robin van der Laan at Wolves, Paul Trollope at Crystal Palace, Darren Wassall at Manchester City and goalkeeper Martin Taylor at Crewe. The Derby boss hopes the loan deals will become permanent transfers to raise cash for a new striker - possibly Paulo Alves from Sporting Lisbon - and a quick look at the league table will tell you why Smith is desperate for new firepower. After nine games in the Premiership, Derby are in 14th spot with only two wins, eight goals and 10 points. (Forest are three places below Derby with only seven points.) Dean Sturridge, who was on loan himself to Torquay United two seasons ago, was Derby's top scorer in the First Division last season with 20 goals and is top again this time - with two of the eight. His strike partner is Ashley Ward, formerly with Manchester City, Leicester City, Crewe and Norwich. On the foreign front, Derby have two Croatians and a Dane. The Croat duo are defender Igor Stimac, the club captain, and attacking midfielder Aljosa Asanovic, who plays just behind the front two. Stimac, 29, joined The Rams from Hajduk Split a year ago for GBP1.57 million and he was followed to Derby in the summer by Asanovic, who cost GBP950,000 from the same club after impressing for Croatia in Euro 96. Apart from Asanovic, Smith also paid Dundee United GBP1 million for midfielder Christian Dailly and GBP500,000 to Denmark's Silkeborg for Danish international Jacob Laursen. Against Forest tomorrow, Derby may adopt a lineup like: Russell Hoult; Gary Rowett, Paul McGrath, Igor Stimac; Jacob Laursen, Christian Dailly, Aljosa Asanovic, Darryl Powell, Chris Powell; Dean Sturridge, Ashley Ward. Goalkeeper Hoult is Leicester-born and a former Leicester City player, Rowett played previously for Cambridge United and Everton and Chris Powell (no relation to Darryl but, like his namesake, born in Lambeth) began at Palace and played 248 league games for Southend before joining Derby. Never heard of them? Well, as Darryl Powell says, just give them time.