After Kris Commons gave Derby the edge over Manchester United in the first leg of the Carling Cup, expectations were high for a similar performance on their return journey to Old Trafford. Nigel Clough’s first game in charge against QPR wasn’t particularly successful so there was a lot of pressure on the Super Rams.

It didn’t take long for Man Utd to level the scores when striker Nani punched a ferocious strike past Roy Carroll in the 16th minute.

That wasn’t the end of it neither. Man Utd were keen to show Derby who was boss with John O’Shea and Carlos Tevez both firing home goals past Derby’s broken defence in the first half, essentially wrapping up the tie.

After the break, Derby came back out with a stronger attitude. Clough had obviously inspired the boys with some harsh words and it showed. There were quite a few oppotunities when Derby looked to recoup their losses, slipping through Man Utd’s defence and retaliating on the break.

In the 80th minute, Derby were thrown a life line when Paul Green was brought down in the box from an injured Jonny Evans. Substitute Giles Barnes took decided to take the responsibility and rightly so – it was 3-2 with 10 minutes left to play.

Nine minutes later, Caroll foolishly bought down Tevez in the box, allowing Cristiano Ronaldo to hammer home another for Man Utd.

That didn’t stop Derby fighting though. Barnes stepped up for a free kick during injury time and proved why he is such a star striker, whacking another past Foster, handing Derby one last chance of taking it to extra time.

But it wasn’t to be. The whistle was blown and Derby’s dream of a trip to Wembley crumbled away.

Regardless of the defeat, Derby proved they are capable of some astonishing performances. At times, they were the stronger team against England’s finest. Man Utd could never take that pride away from Derby.

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?

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.

Still on a high from the fantastic result against Leeds in the Carling Cup earlier in the week, Derby were full of enthusiasm and motivation to concentrate on their Championship campaign with their clash against Sheffield Wednesday. Both teams are hovering around mid-table so were keen to outplay the other.

Kris Commons started the ball rolling with his first home goal since the transfer from F*rest at the start of the season. Commons has been assisting shedloads of goals this season and unfortunately missed the target early on in the game when a header went wide. But, the opportunity came when Commons struck from 12 yards, beating Owls’ goalkeeper and ex-Ram Lee Grant, netting his first goal for Derby on home turf.

The goals didn’ stop there neither.

After the break, another ex-Ram Marcus Tudgay couldn’t beat Derby’s Roy Carroll with a lame heading effort but Commons assisted yet again, this time allowing Miles Addison to head home a second for a dominating Derby.

It was Jordan Stewart who wrapped things up for Derby with a clinical left foot strike in the 67th minute, ensuring Derby all three points from three fine goals.

Derby are travelling across the country to face the Tractor Boys next Saturday so here’s hoping to another storming result from our Rams.

After the tense draw at Pride Park against Birmingham in the week, Derby were keen to improve on their five game unbeaten run with their journey across the Norfolk Broads to Delia Smith‘s beloved Norwich City.

Rob Hulse opened the scoreline in the 26th minute with a beauty of a header to give Derby the away lead for the first half.

It was Derby’s keeper Roy Carroll who spoon fed the home side an easy opportunity to take scores level when he took down Leroy Lita in the penalty area which Sammy Clingan smoothly knocked in.

Thankfully, Norwich’s David Marshall ran out to the ball far too early, allowing Nathan Ellington to slot the winning goal in an open net.

With two weeks to rest during the World Cup qualifiers, Derby have an ideal position to take the reward of the last six games and build on it before facing Plymouth on the 18th.

Derby have been on a good run over the last four games, mostly drawing but at least with the teams who are heading up the Championship this season.

So with BBC Radio Five Live Extra covering the game when there were numerous Champions League qualifiers simultaneously being played, the media obviously thought it would be an interesting result from two relegatees from the Premiership last season.

Unfortunately, activity was rather limited.

Derby keeper Roy Carroll saved a strong effort from Mehdi Nafti in the first minute, denying the travellers an early lead.

But in the 26th minute, Birmingham’s Quincy Owusu-Abeyie fired in a worthy shot to take the Blues into a lead for the majority of the game.

Miles Addison and Paul Green were the only efforts for Derby that looked to take the home side level but the deadlock was finally broken in the 87th minute when Steve Davies fired home a late goal to give Derby their 5th game unbeaten.

After being denied their first away win against Swansea last week and losing the lead against Cardiff in the week, Derby were fired up and ready to take on Queens Park Rangers on their visit South.

QPR nearly took the lead in the early stages from a Dexter Blackstock shot but Roy Carroll was there to stop it.

It wasn’t until the last 11 minutes when Martin Albrechtsen‘s left foot thumped in the first for Derby, before Emanuel Villa wrapped up the game for the travelling side, heading in Steven Davies‘ cross, ending QPR’s 100% home record.

Next up is fellow Premiership relegatees Birmingham at home on Tuesday where he can surely improve on our current run.