Fikayo Tomori should not be fazed by facing his old club in a cup tie.

The Derby defender, who was on loan to Albion two years ago, has already taken that challenge to a new level.

Along with Mason Mount, he played against his PRESENT parent club earlier this season when the Rams went to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup.

An own goal that night has made him stronger rather than killed him as a defender of high promise.

Just as was the case when he managed to turn the ball clumsily into his own net on his Albion debut.

The Argus:

Fikayo Tomori celebrates promotion with Albion in 2017

Should Tomori play at the Amex on Saturday – and Derby are not exactly blessed with alternatives – fans will see a more mature player than the one who fleetingly trod the hallowed turf as the Seagulls moved towards the Premier League in 2017.

For one thing, he has been a central character rather than a bit-part player.

Last night’s league game at Ipswich saw Tomori and Richard Keogh team up in central defence for the 35th time in 38 league and cup fixtures this season.

“Fair play to everyone involved, defending from the front, right through the team,” said Rams boss Frank Lampard on Monday as he spoke about his team’s good defensive record.

“Extra star points for the two centre-backs and goalkeeper (Kelle Roos), because I think they have been outstanding in recent games.”

Tomori was rather thrown into Derby’s first team in only the second game of the season following an injury to Curtis Davies, whose season is now over due to Achilles trouble.

A calm demeanour and good use of the ball, something Lampard wants from his centre-backs, have caught the eye.

He can be loose at times in his defending, understandable for a young defender eager to develop and impress, but he has the pace to recover from any mistakes.

The Argus:

Tomori scores his FA Cup own goal at Lincoln

When that happens, you will hear the chant: “You’ll never beat Tomori.”

Dare one say it’s an echo of the old “You’ll never beat Des Walker” chant from arch rivals Nottingham Forest more than two decades ago?

Chelsea will be delighted with how he has fared – and will be keeping an eye on his performance against Premier League opponents on Saturday.

They allowed him to play against them in the Carabao Cup and would have been impressed by how he played after gifting them an unfortunate own goal inside five minutes.

Maybe he drew on experience gained the hard way with Albion.

His was the worst moment of an awful afternoon in general at Sincil Bank when he turned a harmless cross into his own net to give Lincoln the lead in an FA Cup fourth-round tie.

He later told The Argus: “It wasn’t the best thing to happen to me and, for a few days I was a bit down.

“The players and the manager and staff and everyone around me helped me a lot.

“I was able to rise through it and I think I have coped well to get through it.”

Tomori came on as sub and did a good job in key wins at home to Birmingham and away to QPR late in the promotion push.

He told of the kick he got back then when he received praise from a senior colleague. The England under-19 star said: “Bruno is such a big character in the changing room that, when he says something good about you, it is obviously going to boost you.

“He is very encouraging in training. When you have done something good, he lets you know about it. That builds your confidence.

“He talks to me a lot. I’ve come here as cover for right-back really.

“When I watch Bruno, I watch the way he moves his body and his movement.

“You can see how composed he is on the ball, a great player.”

Those who watch Derby believe Keogh – an old Albion adversary from the Championship - is proving a similarly influential figure now.

Tomori said recently: “Obviously, me and Keezy, it’s our job to keep clean sheets. We know if we keep a clean sheet, we can’t lose, and we have the forward players to score.

“As a centre-back, it’s good to have a consistent partner. Obviously, it’s very unfortunate that Curtis got injured.”

The FA Cup has been good for Tomori this season. BBC pundit Danny Murphy said he has “got the lot” following the third-round replay victory at Southampton.

Murphy added: “He’s been absolutely superb, he looks a real, real player. I like his maturity, I think his passing is excellent, he’s good in the air, he’s got the lot – a really, really good player.”

Assuming no knocks or strains were picked up at Ipswich last night, he will bar the way to his old club on Saturday.