Gary Caldwell has reacted to the release of the 2023/24 League One fixtures, with City kicking off away at Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday August 5.
"It's always an exciting day for the supporters to see who we've got and when. The Christmas games are always big ones.
"We're all looking forward to Wycombe away when it comes, but there is a lot of hard work to put in before then."
City kick off at home to two newly relegated sides, Blackpool and Reading, and Gary is looking forward to seeing the challenge they pose.
"The teams that have come down and come up, that's seven new teams to prepare for. We don't have the horror run we had last year at the end of the season, thankfully it all feels more spread out.
"I'm looking forward to Wigan, it's a club very close to my heart. I was there for a very long time and it's very special. I'll be coming up against a very good friend of mine, Shaun Maloney so it's one I looked at straight away."
On what will be one day shy of Gary's first anniversary as manager at Derby County, City will once again head to Pride Park.
"Football throws up little things like that. It'll be a tough game like last season, and we're also looking forward to this one."
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