The game had huge coverage in the media today and rightly so – this was a massive game for Derby. Not only were they facing one of the biggest clubs in the World nor was it the furthest they’ve progressed in the League Cup for over 40 years but the new manager Nigel Clough was watching before taking the reigns on Thursday.

The first half was quite a level affair. Derby looked strong with several chances on goal while Man Utd struggled to conjure up any special chances.

It was in the 30th minute when the magic happened – Kris Commons managed to collect a ball from Mile Sterjovski, ran on to Man Utd’s defence, whacking a beauty of a strike into the far corner from 25 yards. Derby took the lead 1-0 and held that score for the entire first half with little to worry about from Man Utd.

In the second half, it was Man Utd who upped the ante but struggled to create anything special. They were the stronger side for a lot of the half but Derby still pushed on with quite a few spurts of energy, really pushing the Man Utd defence at times.

There was even an opportunity for Rob Hulse to take Derby 2-0 up on the break from a Man Utd challenge but it was knocked over the bar by Roy Carroll during one of his few required efforts.

Cristiano Ronaldo nearly converted a free kick for United in the second half but went a few inches wide to the Rams fan’s delight.

The “shock” win couldn’t have come at a better time – no doubt the presence of our next manager guided the team to their first leg victory. With two of our strongest players not even present and such a fantastic performance, Clough is probably glad he made the decision to leave Burton Albion at the weekend.

The return leg at Old Trafford is on Tuesday 20th January, kicking off at 7.45pm and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports 1. We don’t need to tell you to tune in, do we?

After beating Stoke at the Britannia Stadium in a gruelling yet rewarding quarter-final last week, Derby were on a high. They have not reached the semi-final stages of the League Cup since 1968 – 40 years ago – you can imagine the elation from the squad after such a nail-biting finish.

So when the draw for the Semi Finals were announced on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday this weekend, you can imagine the exhilieration from Pride Park when they saw Manchester United picked to travel to Pride Park for the first leg.

The first clash will happen on the week commencing January 5th, 2009, dependent on other fixtures but having the upper hand of starting at home will certainly give Derby that much needed support. Thousands and thousands of Ram fans will be packing out Pride Park to see their heroes take on Alex Ferguson’s mighty United, in vein hope of a worthy result.

Ticket information will be announced soon so keep your eyes and ears open for the big sale.

Update: the fixtures have been finalised today: the first leg will be at 7.45pm on Wednesday 7th January 2009 and the return leg at Old Trafford on Tuesday 20th January 2009, kicking off at the slightly later 8pm. The League Cup Final will be held at Wembley on Sunday 1st March 2009.

While Derby’s league campaign has had mixed results, the League Cup was a completely different affair. Derby haven’t reached the quarter finals of the league cup in 20 odd years so they had already exceeded expectations. It was now time to step it up a gear against Premiership side, Stoke City – and on away turf as well.

The first half had little to talk about. The only highlight was a disallowed goal from Richard Creswell due to a handball.

Both teams stepped it up a gear after the break though.

Kris Commons and Miles Addison both rattled the woodwork while Stoke’s Ricardo Fuller was denied the other end of the pitch thanks to an amazing save from Roy Carroll.

It was in the fourth minute of injury time when Andy Griffin handballed Przemyslaw Kazmierczak’s cross, forcing referee Rob Styles to reward Derby a penalty. Nathan Ellington accepted duty and smoothly rolled the ball past Stoke’s Steve Simonsen, progressing Derby through to the semi-finals.

Derby haven’t beaten a Premiership team in 25 games since Paul Jewell took the management post, so you can imagine the adilation he was feeling.

Derby are now in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup, the furthest they have ever been in the League Cup in 40 years.

With five Premiership teams in the line-up – including Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspurs, Blackburn and Stoke City – chances were on Derby had a tough game ahead with some tough competition. Saying that, Burnley did the Championship teams proud earlier in the week by beating current holders Chelsea in a nail-biting penalty shoot-out. It was anybody’s cup now!

So imagine our delight when fellow Midlanders Stoke City got pulled from the draw just before our beloved Derby County.

The clash will be held at Britannia Stadium on Tuesday 2nd December 2008 at 7.45pm. Ticket details are still to be finalised but you can be sure thousands of Derby fans will be heading up the A50 to Stoke that evening for a night of goals, tears and celebrations (hopefully, in favour of Derby).

Come on you Potters – we’ll have you!

Derby’s Carling Cup campaign has gone from strength to strength this season – getting to the 4th round was their best performance in the League Cup since 1998. So, facing Leeds United on home turf was bound to be an intense game.

Thankfully, Emanuel Villa gave Derby an early lead in the 6th minute sending in a beautiful left-foot shot after beating Lubomir Michalik.

Nathan Ellington doubled Derby’s lead 12 minutes later with a simple touch in after Kris Commons did all the hard work beating off Leeds’ defence.

Luciano Becchio managed to head in a consolation goal before the break but that was all Leeds had in them. They dominated the second half but struggled to convert any chances, allowing Derby to qualify for the quarter finals.

The Quarter Final Draw of the Carling Cup will take place during Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports this Saturday 12-1pm GMT.

Due to UEFA commitments, Manchester City have had to postpone their Carling Cup campaign so will be travelling to the Withdean Stadium on Wednesday 24th September to settle the score with Brighton & Hove.

Once that game is over, Derby will know whether to prepare for a trip up north or down south in an attempt to qualify for the fourth round of the Carling Cup.

Details of our game are still to be confirmed, including the actual date, but we do know the game will be away so one thing’s for sure – we certainly won’t be wearing our new third kit in all its blue and white stripy glory.

While our league results are seriously lacking, Derby County are on a winning streak with the Carling Cup this season.

Not content with knocking out Lincoln City in the first round, a confident Derby team travelled up to Preston last night and actually looked like a winning team.

Early on in the game, Przemyslaw Kazmierczak came close to scoring when he hit the bar with his pounding effort.

It was in the 40th minute when Paul Green connected with a cross from Jordan Stewart to score the only goal of the game, giving Derby a morale boosting win before our second visit up North this week to Barnsley.

Read the full match report on BBC Sport.

Lincoln City took the lead after 48 minutes when Ben Wright scored a header to take the travelers ahead and it wasn’t looking good for the Rams.

But in the 83rd minute, Nathan Ellington managed to fumble the equalizer past Robert Burch to take Derby level.

It was in added extra time when the Duke came out of himself and fired not one but two more past the Lincoln keeper to take Derby 3-1 in to the lead to win the game – Paul Jewell’s first win since taking the managerial role last season.

Let’s hope the loss at Doncaster last week was just a preliminary blip in our 2008/9 campaign and this is the start of something beautiful.

Read the full match report on BBC Sport and DCFC.