Derby entered the international break on a high following an impressive 3-0 victory against Sheffield Wednesday at home.  The Rams bounced back from the 6-1 mauling against Cardiff City and looked in good form for a trip to the Walkers Stadium to face East Midlands rivals Leicester.  Injuries had looked set to disturb the Derby back four, with Leacock and Buxton still in recovery and news Barker was rumoured to be on the sidelines for a considerable length of time.  Jay McEveley was temporarily the only fit centre back in the first team squad.  Luckily, both Leacock and Barker miraculously made the starting 11 and proved to be the stars of what turned out to be a lacklustre derby.

Leicester started the first half the brightest, dominating possession and plying constant pressure on the Derby back 4.  Prolific scorer Matt Fryatt caused problems in the 10^th minute following a darting run into the Derby area but produced a tame effort easily held by Stephen Bywater.  The Foxes continued to dominate without making the crucial breakthrough, Andy King came close with a long range effort just the wrong side of the top corner.

Derby woke up in the second half and played a more offensive game.  The best chance of the match came from Derby midfielder Kris Commons who curled a stunning shot onto the cross-bar.  Controversy struck both teams late on, Derby being denied two penalty shouts for fouls on Rob Hulse.  Meanwhile Leicester fans were jubilant just before the whistle as ex-Ram Matt Oakley placed the ball into the back of the net seemingly scoring a last-gasp winner.  The linesman saved the day however, signaling offside at ensuring Derby earnt a hard earned point.

The Rams will be pleased to make the short journey back to Derby with a point.  Whilst some fans may be unhappy at the negativity of Clough’s 4-5-1 formation, given the clubs injury crisis up front (Davies, Porter et al.) and the attacking prowess of Leicester City’s front 2; Clough must be praised for his shrewd tactics.  In fact fans might feel hard done by just to leave with a single point following the penalty appeals.  The defence stability from today’s game will need to replicated on Tuesday night as Derby face Middlesbrough at the Riverside.

Derby came into this game off the back of two disappointing defeats; a home game against bottom of the table Barnsley should have been the perfect antidote.  Instead the Rams found themselves struggling to contain this supposedly weaker opposition.

The game started brightly for the Rams, as the momentum of the game swung in their favour. Rob Hulse twice came close to putting the Rams ahead; firstly with a shot deflected wide behind the goal, and then an agonisingly close cross from Commons which Hulse failed to make contact with.

On the 27^th minute Hulse was rewarded for his work; an inch perfect cross from Lee Croft out wide on the wing found the head of the charging Hulse just inside the six-yard box, he couldn’t miss.

Unfortunately for the Rams this marked the high point of the evening. Just 10 minutes later the visitors were level; a superb strike from Hammill from 20 yards curled past the finger tips of a helpless Bywater and into the Derby net.

No fan from any club can bemoan the opposition a goal of such high class as Hammill’s, however Barnsley’s second of the game was lamented from all sectors of the Pride Park crowd.  Just short of the hour mark Commons was fouled in the Barnsley half, the Derby players expecting a free kick all stopped in their tracks; instead the referee waived play on allowing Barnsley to break. The move was finished by Andy Gray’s calm finish past Bywater after being fed in by Emil Hallfredsson.

The game ended in a flurry of goals; with eight minutes injury time added the Rams were pushing hard for an equaliser, this however left them heavily exposed at the back. With little way of a challenge Barnsley sub   managed exactly this and found himself in the Derby box with just Bywater to beat, easily rounding the Derby keeper he slid the ball coolly into the net to make it three for the night and surely bag up three points to take back to Yorkshire.

The Rams weren’t yet finished and did manage to pull one back to save some face.  Defender Shaun Barker jumped highest to meet Teale’s corner.

All in all this was yet another disappointing result for the Rams, and whilst the standard of football is infinitely higher than this time last year they need to begin to ground out some positive results, beginning in South London on Saturday.

Derby fans entered the international break downbeat following the 3-2  defeat to local rivals Nottingham Forest and the disconcerting aftermath to which both sides have been duly fined.  Following a relatively comfortable start to the season, including a number of relegation candidates, Derby faced their sternest test of the season in the form of defeated playoff contenders Sheffield United.  Summer signing Shaun Barker replaced the quietly impressive Jake Buxton at centre-back whilst midfield pair Paul Green and Lee Croft came in for Tottenham loanee Jake Livermore and under-fire Kris Commons.

Sheffield United dominated the opening stages.  Keith Tracey, on loan from Premier League side Blackburn Rovers, looked very threatening as he fashioned a number of chances, one inches away from Bywater’s left post.  The Blades pressure culminated mid way through the first half as ex-Chesterfield striker Jamie Ward benefitted from some poor defending from Addison, forcing a smart save from Bywater.  The ball rebounded to the feet of Darius Henderson who made no mistake from just outside the 6 yard box.  The Blades celebrations were cut short as a seemingly dubious offside was called and the goal was chalked off.

Whilst the Blades had dominated play in the first half it was Derby who started the better in the second.  Gary Teale continued his notable form, playing a key role in a number of Derby chances.  Hulse failed to convert two headed opportunities whilst Teale himself hit the woodwork with a fortunate cross-come-shot.  The introduction of Kris Commons in the 72nd minute maintained the Derby momentum as the Scottish international put some threatening balls into the box.  Despite all the Derby promise it was the Blades who ended the match victorious as Kilgallon looped a header in from a Keith Treacy free kick, Barker guilty of a needless tackle close the Rams corner flag.  Jamie Ward would have doubled their lead in injury time had Bywater not superbly saved the fierce strike.

Nigel Clough was quick to highlight Shaun Barker (on his first league start) for criticism for lashing out at Stephen Quinn close to the corner flag.  Whilst Clough may feel aggrieved by the manner of the defeat and especially the goal, Derby fans maybe feeling obliged to question the team’s intentions given the 4-5-1 formation being employed by Clough at Pride Park.  The return of Chris Porter in the Winter will hopefully see a turn to more attacking styles of play, especially as the Rams seemed fixated with the long ball to Hulse.  Not only was this out of sorts for the Clough side but notably fruitless against the central partnership of Morgan and Kilgallon.

Despite a run of two losses and the first defeat at home this season, Derby fans still have reason for optimism as Dean Leacock and Steve Davies edge closer to full fitness.  The Derby faithful will expect a full 3 points come Tuesday evening as Derby face bottom club Barnsley at Pride Park.

There are few matches in the modern game that are anticipated with such intensity by the fans as the East Midland’s Derby.  This encounter was no exception.

The game got off to an electric start, unfortunately for the Rams it was more of an electric shock.  With in a minute of kick off Forest’s Polish midfielder Radolsaw Majewski scored an absolute peach of goal from the edge of the box.

With any game plan completely out of the window, Derby were understandably shaky; and in a ‘lesser’ game Gary Teale would have been expected to make the most of all opportunities; but instead when Stephen Pearson played the Scot through Teale was unable to bury the ball, and instead scuffed his shot wide.

The day got worse for the Rams just before the half hour mark, as a Cohen free-kick curled into the box was met by the head of Rob Hulse and found its way into the back of the Derby net.

Derby were now no worse off than in last seasons F.A. Cup clash; so time for a comeback, right? Well almost.  Hulse eager to cancel out his earlier mistake did find the back of the Forest net, but the goal was harshly ruled out after it was judged that Hulse had pushed Wes Morgan as he went for the ball.

A poor half time result for the Rams quickly turned into a complete disaster when just minutes before the break Kris Commons capped his poor performance against his old club, by losing the ball to ex-Ram Dexter Blackstock.  Blackstock timed a perfect pass through the Derby defence into the path of the charging Tyson who rounded Bywater to finish with embarrassing ease.  The Derby defence were left watching helplessly after the offside trap had suffered complete and utter breakdown.

Thankfully the Rams side which appeared after the half time break had completely ridden itself of its earlier jitters; Croft came on to replace the poor Commons and Derby looked much better for the change.

It took just six minutes for the Rams to get back into the game.  Miles Addison attempted a bicycle kick off Jake Buxton’s flick on, rather than fly spectacularly into the Forest net the ball took a huge deflection off Wes Morgan and rolled past the helpless Lee Camp.  Whilst not the most spectacular goal, it introduce the whiff of a comeback into the air and the atmosphere within the ground changed accordingly.

Just over ten minutes later and the Rams had pulled back another one. The Forest defence failed to deal with Lee Croft’s cross in a timely manner and the ball fell to perfectly positioned Livermore whose low shot deflected off Murphey to give the Spurs loanee his first Rams goal.

The final half hour was fought like any self respecting local rivalry should be.  Derby continued to push ferociously for the equaliser and even brought veteran striker Paul Dickov out for his Derby debut, but even he could not grab that elusive goal.

The game itself ended in disarray when firstly Savage and Majewski ended up in a heap on the ground, whilst the pair helped each other up, argy bargy ensued as Savage was shoved by several Forset players.  Shenanigans continued after the final whistle as Derby players reacted to Nathan Tyson’s gloating directly in front of the travelling Derby masses.

Following on from the much-needed clean sheet at Blackpool, Derby hosted Plymouth at Pride Park, a side who had failed to beat the Rams in their previous 6 attempts.  With the return of key players Commons and Hulse, the outlook for Derby was bright.  However, concerns about the fitness of both Commons and Hulse meant Steve Davies lead the line, the starting 11 the same as the previous home match to Peterborough with the exception of Tottenham loanee Jake Livermore who replaced the unfit Paul Green.

Plymouth started the brightest, dominating possession but crucially lacking in the final third.  It took a lunge from new signing Jake Buxton for Plymouth to make the breakthrough, chopping down Alain Judge on the edge of the area.  Whilst the penalty itself was debatable, Clough highlighting the proximity to the edge of the box in his post-game interview, the finish was resolute.

The first goal seemed to spark Derby into life.  The Rams began to create numerous openings, Miles Addison making the most of a Teale Corner only to be denied by some shrewd goal line defending.  It wasn’t until just before the break they finally drew level, Jake Buxton making amends for conceding the penalty with an astute finish from just outside the 6-yard box following a scrappy goalmouth scramble.

The second half began with a concerning leg injury to Steve Davies.  Following a promising pre-season it’s a bitter blow to lose Davies, especially given injury plagued his debutant season with the Rams.  His replacement Hulse performed well as lone striker and set up numerous chances that Derby failed to capitalise on.  The game seemed destined for a draw until the final stages.  Alain Judge missed a gilt-edged chance for Plymouth, firing over following a fast counter attack. In the final seconds Derby responded with an incredible Miles Addison header from a Gary Teale corner, yet another well worked set piece

Derby finish the opening 4 games with an impressive 7 points from a possible 12.  However, the promising start must be taken with a pinch of salt as all the opposition so far are heavily touted as relegation candidates and undoubtedly Derby face much more difficult ties ahead; none other than a trip to the City Ground next weekend.

Bloomfield Road has in recent years proven to be a bit of a bogey ground for the Rams, perhaps it’s the sea air, the fish & chips or the distraction of the nearby pleasure beach; whatever the reason  many Rams fans probably felt that they stood a greater chance of winning in the Pier Amusements than celebrating three points tonight.

Several changes were made to tonight’s line up; Commons and Hulse both made their first starts of the season, whilst ex-Blackpool defender Barker was on the bench poised to make his first league appearance for the Rams against his former club.

The first half was a rather dismal affair, and whilst it was nice to see the Derby defence stand resolute, the lack of offensive power from Derby’s strike force gave little hope that it would be the Ram’s who would break the deadlock.

The second half offered more promise as the Rams finally had some realistic chances on goal, but whilst Addison and Hulse both came close; neither of their attempts was on target.

Perhaps the closest we came to seeing a goal come from today’s game, came from Alex Baptiste, who’s thundering shot from 25yards was pushed away from certain glory by a fully stretched diving Steven Bywater.

For Derby today represented a vastly improved performance from Saturday’s efforts at Scunthorpe, and the clean sheet will be greatly anticipated.  The game itself will be forgotten in the depths of midweek melancholia.

Derby’s season opener witnessed what the media labelled the battle of the ‘greats’, Clough Jnr vs. Ferguson Jnr.  Both promising young managers, burdened with the baggage of their fathers managerial success; the opening game of the season was the ideal opportunity to improve their standing.  Clough was notably the more apprehensive of the two given the fitness concerns of attacking duo Kris Commons and Rob Hulse and the disappointing news Chris Porter would be on the sidelines for the foreseeable future.  Thus, Steve Davies earned himself the lone striker role following his impressive pre-season form.

However it was centre-back Miles Addison, back in the side following an injury plagued finale to the previous season, who opened the scoring, nodding in a headed pass from Jake Buxton.  Paul Green deserved credit for his vision following a delightful ball in from the left.  The width offered by Croft and Teale lead to a first half dominated by Derby, flaunting a passing game one would expect to see at the Emirates rather than Pride Park.  Crucially however, a second goal failed to materialise.

Peterborough battled back valiantly in the second half with Mclean and Mackail-Smith fashioning chances but Derby looked firmly in control.  It took a moment of madness from goalkeeper Stephen Bywater to gift Peterborough a lifeline, needlessly fouling Shaun Batt in the penalty area, duly converted by George Boyd.

Pride Park was momentarily silenced before Gary Teale scored a fortuitous winner, poking the ball under keeper Joe Lewis following a goalmouth scramble.  Kris Commons should have made it three but was exceptionally thwarted one on one by England Under-21 Joe Lewis.

Derby fans can rejoice the club has finally broken the run of failing to win on the opening day of the season, a run stretching back to the victory over Reading in 2002.  Further optimism can be found in the performance of controversial lower league signings Jake Buxton and Dean Moxey.  Both had solid debuts in front of the imposing 33,000 at Pride Park, as did ex-Norwich winger Lee Croft who made a number of threatening crosses in the first half.

With the League Cup cast firmly out of the picture the Rams today refocused their attention on the league; hoping to build upon their excellent start against new boys Peterborough. Next up was a trip to (not so) sunny Scunthorpe.

Derby were forced to field a seriously weakened side after the injury crisis currently plaguing the club added Steve Davis to it’s list against Rotherham midweek. This weakness was duly noted in the final score as Derby were stretched to far across the pitch, and found themselves wide open to Scunthorpe’s counter attacks.

The game started brightly with both sides threatening to take the initiative, however it was the home side who struck first. Gary Hooper the starlet of Scunthorpe’s promotion campaign displayed his poacher instincts as he pounced on the rebounded shot of Woolford to give Scunthorpe their first lead of the season,

Derby, keen not to be left behind, were back on level terms with in three minutes. Paul Green began his seasons tally with a well struck shot past keeper Murphey. If the Ram’s thought that they could keep status quo until half time they were duly mistaken.

Just a minute before the break, the excellent Hooper struck again, driving a low hard shot past Bywater who despite getting his fingers to the ball was unable to stop its inevitable track.

The second half saw the emergence of Kris Commons from the bench for his first appearance of the season. Within a matter a minutes he had lived up to his reputation and drawn the Rams level. A spot kick had been awarded to Derby after Scunthorpe keeper Murphy felled Green in the box. Resuming his duties, Commons confidently sent Murphy the wrong way.

With half an hour still to play many of the 2,000 travelling Rams fans would have happily settled for a draw, given the surprising prowess of the league newcomers. Derby were to suffer one last time as Scunthorpe claimed all three points eight minutes from time. Hooper, heavily involved once again released Woolford on a charging run into the Derby box; with Derby’s defence seemingly absent Woolford buried the ball into the net with a low shot beneath the reach of Bywater.

Another season of Championship football was finally assured for the Rams after this determined victory against already relegated Charlton. 

The first half of this affair highlighted all the reasons why these two teams have both languished in the lower half of the table for much of the season.  The problem lay not in the amount of chances created by either team, but instead in their inability to capitalise upon their efforts. 

Kris Common’s claimed the best of Derby’s chances during the first half coming closest around the 20 minute mark, when a darting run from midfield opened up the opportunity for a shot. Whilst on previous occasions the Scotland international has managed to burst the back of the net from this distance, his attempt this time fell agonisingly wide. 

The second half started much brighter than the first.  Newly crowned player of the season Rob Hulse came tantalisingly close twice, and similar chances were had through Albrechtsen and Commons. It was clear that the Rams could sense that victory was in their grasp and with it mathematical safety. 

All the pressure on display at Pride Park today, was released by a Rob Hulse goal on 70 minutes. Gary Teale’s corner was cleared but only as far as Bannan who returned it back in to the box to be headed in by Hulse. 

With the season now all but over, the Ram’s can finally begin to look towards August and the start of the new Clough era in earnest.

Derby once again failed to achieve mathematical safety, leaving it instead until the penultimate weekend of the season for another chance to seal the deal. 

To say that Reading rattled Derby’s cage during the opening stages of the game would be the understatement of the season. The ball found its way to the back of Derby’s net no less than three times during the first half, however fortunately for the Rams each time defensive errors went unpunished as each goal was ruled out for offside. 

After these defensive blips the first half turned into an open game of football with both teams creating good chances.  Derby came closest eight minutes from the end of the half when a Kris Commons shot was deflected just beyond the Reading post by Duberry.

The second half started much like the first had finished, with both sides creating chances.  As expected though it was reading who took the first goal; a deft Kitson header from the cross of Kebe. 

Hulse almost responded immediately for the Ram’s but was unable get enough power on his header to beat Hahnemann. 

Reading proved to be too much for Derby to cope with, as highlighted when on 72 minutes a long ball fed Shane Long in to score their second of the game, and ultimately seal the three points. 

If Derby are unable to gather the necessary points for survival at home to Charlton this coming Saturday, they will be hoping that Reading can repeat tonight’s performance against Norwich on Monday, where a draw for the Royals will be enough to put Derby’s season to bed.