"We will see - I would hope to get a good one, but you just don't know, do you?" he says.
"I wasn't there long - I was only there 15 months - and hopefully I made a bit of an impression and will get a decent reception, but that doesn't worry me too much.
"The important thing is that we get three points to push us further up the table - that is all I am interested in, really.
"I think it will be a tough game; as we have found out they are all tough in this division, in different ways. "They have picked up in the last five games after a terrible start."
Derby, like West Ham, have experienced relegation recently, and Rob adds:
"They both went down and once you go down the financial implications, as we know at West Ham, are not great.
"I think the difference is at West Ham, no disrespect to Derby's players, was that West Ham had England internationals and players that were very sought after.
"Unfortunately for us they had to be sold, but in a way the club managed to get out of it by selling those good players.
"Derby were unfortunate enough not to have the players to sell so although it is similar hopefully we are not as bad as Derby because they were in - and still are - terrible financial difficulties. "
Rob is working hard in a three man midfield and jokes:
"It is not easy; I would rather there were five or six in there so I wouldn't have to run around so much! "It is different but, as I say, as long as the team is doing well I will suffer and do a bit of extra work - the most important thing is winning the games.
"The team is the thing, Trevor picks the team, we get on with it and play to the best of our ability."
Is Rob due a goal?
"It would be nice; last time I played at Pride Park I scored so I would like to do that again," he says.
"I notched for Derby against Ipswich so hopefully that is an omen and I will probably get my customary one at some stage in the season - it is just a case of whether it comes sooner or later.
"I am probably playing a bit more on the right than normal on Wednesday and I was able to get forward a few more times.
"The lads ignored me though because they didn't expect to see me up there - they think I get a nose bleed.
"We have got to be aware of not all bombing forward because we have to stay solid at the back and not concede a goal.
"First and foremost we mustn't concede because we always believe we will score, and it is vitally important for myself and Kevin Horlock especially to keep a tight midfield."
As for the strikers and the debate about who passes when, he says:
"They both want to score goals and I don't think that is a bad thing; when they get a chance they shoot and that is fine - I certainly wouldn't have any qualms about them shooting because they are the strikers and the ones we rely on to score the goals."
It has been pretty non-stop for Rob of late, and he says:
"It has been tough for the last three or so weeks but we have done pretty well, especially if we get a win at Derby.
"We deserved to lose at Gillingham and against Millwall we deserved more after our first half display but then we were hanging on again.
"I think it is important that when we score the first goal we try and build on that, get the second, and kill teams off, because that is something we haven't been able to do.
"Against Millwall we could have been 3-0 up and the game would have been over, but hopefully we will start to do that to teams.
"I think I will need a little break at 37; games come thick and fast as I found out last season at Derby.
"Very rarely do you get a break, though at West Ham we get one now and again with the international games.
"David Connolly and Christian Dailly are forever playing but they are younger than me and can take it."
And his assessment of the season so far?
"I have always wanted to play for West Ham, everyone knows that, and I am enjoying it immensely, but the team probably lacks just a little bit of consistency," he admits.
"We have a lot of new players but we are tinkering with the system - but the players are good and some of the games we have lost, Rotherham and Gillingham, we shouldn't, with respect, be losing games like that - at worst we should be getting a draw.
"We should be able to battle away even if it is not pretty and it is in the air all the time - we should be strong enough to do that and get the consistency we need."