Derby have struggled away from home so much this season that surely it’s time to reach for the hyoscine. The Rams travelled to South Wales on a blowy, dank mid-November evening, to play the inform team of the Championship. Derby’s tactics were clear from the off; stifle the opposition. The limp, lifeless attack from the Rams summed up their efforts and it was a small miracle that the damage was limited to a single goal.

Swansea applied pressure on Derby right from kickoff. The positive football on display from the Swans was almost rewarded after just eight minutes; Nathan Dyer capitalised on a horrible backpass from Gary Teale by latching onto the ball and rounding Bywater only to hit the post from the narrow angle he had left to play with.

Swansea came perilously close again on the half hour mark; only Bywater’s excellent low dive could stop Craig Beattie’s rocket shot from the edge of the box.

The second half continued much the same with Derby still playing the role of a saturated sandbag holding up against an oncoming flood; a breach was inevitable, it was just a matter of when. In light of this Derby actually defended well with Barker making some particularly heroic blocks to stop Pratley, Beattie and co.

Swansea finally broke their duck just nine minutes from time. Joe Allen spotted Fede Bessone on a surging run, leaving the Argentinian with task of finding the net; his thundering shot shuddered off the underside of the crossbar beating Bywater and crashing into the net.

Derby may count themselves unlucky to have held on for so long only to concede at the death, but any game plan that sees the Rams muster just a single shot on goal needs to be held up for scrutiny. The bottom line is that the Rams appear to lack any confidence when away from the Pride Park cauldron and need to see drastic improvements if they are to move up the league table.

Derby came in to Friday’s game in a run of dismal form: as if 3 straight defeats were not bad enough, the Rams became the first unfortunate victims to fall to Roy Keane’s much-maligned Ipswich Town.  Despite the recent lack of success, Derby fans had some optimism in the return to fitness of frontman Rob Hulse and midfielders Stephen Pearson and Paul Green.

Derby got off to the worst possible start as Chris Coleman’s men quickly punished some sloppy Rams defending.  Leon Best was first to react to a poor Bywater punch to volley a left footed shot drive into the net just before the 5 minute mark.  Derby fashioned the better of the other first half chances, Dean Leacock and Rob Hulse both firing just wide of the target.  Derby also had a strong penalty claim turned down as Shaun Barker was chopped down in the box.  Derby’s bad luck was compounded just before the break as on loan striker Paul Dickov astonishingly fired over from 6 yards out.

Dickov promptly atoned for his mistake however turning provider just after the restart.  Dickov curled over a sumptuous ball from the left finding Rob Hulse with space between the Coventry centre backs; Hulse made no mistake and placed the ball smartly past Konstantopoulos.  Derby completed the turnaround with some impressive play again by the forward partnership.  Paul Dickov chased what seemed like a lost cause before producing a remarkable ball from wide right that was driven in by Hulse.  The second half was not without controversy however as Coventry right back Jordan Clarke picked up a sending off following a challenge on Robbie Savage.  Replays showed little contact and some Oscar worthy theatrics from the Derby captain.  In the final stages Hulse was denied his hatrick following a penalty miss after Lee Croft was brought down In the box.

Whilst Derby fans may have felt disappointed with the lack of endeavour shown in the first half, the Rams showed a resilience in the second half notably lacking in recent defeats.  Whilst the team still looks uncomfortable at the back and often fail to retain possession with an array misplaced passes, fans can take heart in a much needed 3 points that see the Rams edge closer away from the drop zone.  Much optimism can also be found in the budding partnership of veteran Dickov and current fans player of the year Rob Hulse and the two look set to retain their places as the Rams travel to Swansea on the 20^th November.

Derby travelled to Portman Road with high hopes; after all despite Derby’s atrocious away form of late, Roy Keane’s Tractor Boys were yet to make a notch on the victory post.

Derby however proved that once again when it comes to ‘curse’ breaking the Rams are kings.  Time and time again teams desperately in need of a win need only a fixture against derby to break their duck.

The injury crisis continues to plague the club, this time claiming new victim Rob Hulse, who was ruled out of the squad by a nasty stomach bug; this meant a lone role for veteran striker Paul Dickov upfront.

Derby dominated the first half; making their intentions known early on. Livermore and Dickov linked up within the first few minutes, only for Dickov to fire into the side netting. Derby’s best chance of the half came courtesy of Robbie Savage, who’s rocket shot from distance forcing Portsmouth loanee Begovic to parry it away.

The Ipswich attack was led by former Ram and recently rumoured Clough target Jon Stead; the striker held the ball up well but despite several attempts failed to severely challenge Bywater.

The Rams continued their dominance after the break and other than a superb stop from Bywater to push away Bruce’s header were troubled little.

In true Derby style it was typical defensive errors from the Rams’ that cost them the game in the 66^th minute.  Liam Rosenior crossed a delicious hanging ball from deep on the right; whilst Derby’s defence watched the ball’s trajectory they left Wright clear to leap meeting the ball with a thunderous header that Bywater despite making contact was unable to stop from pounding the back of the net.

There is little doubt that Derby’s performance at Portman Road was a marked improvement over recent games, and the Rams can count themselves unlucky not to have left Suffolk with at least a point. With less than a week until a home tie against Coventry Derby will hope that key players continue to return from the medical room and make as big an impact as Stephen Pearson did today.

Wear it white night turned into a murky shade of grey as Derby threw away a 2-0 lead in emphatic style with the BBC cameras broadcasting every moment of the embarrassment to the nation.

Derby actually started brighter of the two sides, and other than an early scare courtesy of Jay Simpson they were deserved of the lead gained on the ninth minute. A quick thinking Robbie Savage spotted veteran striker Paul Dickov unmarked in the box; a quickly taken free kick and a well placed shot later the ball was firmly in the back of the net.

As the game opened up both sides created chances in an end to end battle that served perfectly as an advertisement for Championship level football.  Things got even better for the Rams on 36 minutes; Paul Dickov showed his experience winning a free kick on the edge of the Rangers’ box. Savage stepped up to curl a beautifully taken free kick into Cerny’s top corner; they don’t get much better than that!

Unfortunately this was the peak of the game, so far as the Rams were concerned. The Rangers’ fight back began almost instantly; an extremely soft free kick awarded 25 yards out was converted with a low drive from Tarrabt, with a curl taking the ball round the Derby wall out beyond the post before tucking just into the lower corner of Bywater’s goal.  The free kick whilst impressive raised several questions about the positioning of Derby’s wall and whether such a feat should have been allowed to happen in the first place.

QPR burst out of the blocks after the break, equalising in less than two minutes. The ever impressive Routledge controlled the ball at the back post to set up Mahon to fire home from close range.

Derby were stunned and it showed in their play. Dickov had dropped back into midfield and as a result the Rams appeared impotent in attack. By the hour mark the Rams were behind.

Davies and Pearson returned to action for the Rams, and did have some immediate effect. Their added pace and enthusiasm threatened to turn a limp second half from Derby into a contest, but fate didn’t prevail. Instead the Rams found themselves 4-2 down in the final minute of the game. A QPR penalty was converted by Hungarian striker Ákos Buzsáky, from here there was no come back for the Rams.

As the white T’shirts given out to fans before the match rained down onto the pitch like rotten tomatoes, the Rams were left wondering where it all went wrong.

To paraphrase BBC Five Live rather succinct summary of the game ‘Derby were so poor, it was unreal’. Such a response may not have been unexpected given Derby’s recent away form; but the Rams actually held the upper hand against Middlesbrough in the form stakes.

At no point during the ninety minutes of ‘football’ on show did Derby appear to be comfortable. The first scare came after four minutes when if it wasn’t for a block from Shaun Barker then the Rams would have almost certainly been trailing.

The current injury crisis is by far the biggest factor in Derby’s season so far; the crisis was deepened just 12 minutes in to the game as Kris Commons limped off with a recurrence of his hamstring injury. As if that wasn’t penance enough Derby soon lost Jay McEveley to a fractured cheek bone as well, the Scot getting caught during a passionate tackle.

With two enforced changes made in less than 20 minutes it is hardly surprising that the Rams looked rattled. A little over a minute later and the price had been paid. Adam Johnson by far the best man on the pitch made a little run into the Derby box, Barker caught flat-footed brought the England U21 international down leaving the referee with little choice but to award the resulting spot kick. Johnson fired his penalty straight down the middle of goal to get the game off the mark.

It took until the hour mark before either side made any other move of significance. Once again this move came from Adam Johnson, drifting in from the wing the ‘boro midfielder let fly from the edge of the box, the sweet ball flew past Bywater curling nicely into the far corner of the net.

For Derby Dickov came closest from a 30yard free kick and Teale also had a shot blocked, but in any other game these attempts would rarely garner a mention.

Derby’s away form is currently little short of abysmal, if this run continues then injury crisis or not difficult questions will have to be asked.

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.

The outlook for Derby’s first visit to the Cardiff City stadium seemed bright.  The victory against Bristol City on Saturday brought a welcoming halt to Derby’s concerning run of defeats.  Whilst the Rams looked wasteful in the final third, the centre half pairing of Shaun Barker and Dean Leacock seemed solid, bringing a defensive confidence so evidently absent in the previous two seasons.  Add to that Cardiff City’s recent poor form and lack of goals from striker Michael Chopra and Derby fans would have been forgiven for perhaps expecting a rare haul of 3 points on the road.

It wasn’t long before the newfound optimism was cruelly brought back to reality, as Derby began poorly.  The Derby back four played a poorly timed offside trap and Peter Whittingham took advantage, stroking the ball home from just a few yards out.  Things soon went from bad to worse, as Derby’s promising central defensive partnership was broken as Dean Leacock was replaced on the 30^th minute with a tight hamstring.  Jay McEveley, Leacock’s replacement, suffered a baptism of fire as Michael Chopra put the Bluebirds up by 2 soon after, slotting in after a sumptuous ball from wide left.

As the second half began Derby looked set to mount a come back; Rob Hulse pulling one back against the run of play.  The Rams striker beat Mark Hudson to a cross and toe-poked the ball past Cardiff keeper Marshall.  The comeback was quickly quashed as Derby capitulated under the constant pressure of Cardiff striker Michael Chopra.  Chopra made it 3-1 soon after, dashing through a gaping hole in Derby’s defence to squeeze the ball home.  Cardiff fans were still celebrating when Chopra completed his hatrick, benefitting off some woeful marking from Shaun Barker and exquisitely chipping the ball over Bywater.  Dean Moxey was to blame for the fifth; the promising youngster looked completely out of sorts throughout the entire match and his poor marking lead to Chris Burke inflicting further embarrassment.  Chopra still hadn’t finished though, he added his fourth late on.  Jay McEveley was at fault this time, Chopra turning the Derby defender unchallenged and finishing with utmost poise.

Nigel Clough recently appeared on Radio Derby on the back of Derby’s run of 4 defeats.  Press and fans alike were quick to lavish Clough with praise, highlighting his defiant approach and bravery in answering the calls of his critics, an attribute many managers notably lack.  The Bristol City result seemed to finally signal that Derby had turned the proverbial corner and all seemed rosy in the Derby camp.  This proved to be short lived and both the embarrassing score line and appalling performance left Derby fans humiliated.  Whilst perhaps the Middlesbrough defeat at home to West Brom stands to be spare Derby’s blushes for the worst defeat in this championship season so far, fans may feel increasingly apprehensive as Derby hang precariously above the gaping jaws of the relegation zone.  Many level headed fans will be keen to stress composure and perspective, but that is a difficult skill sect to possess given the similarity of manner of this defeat and the painful memories of our last ill fated Premier League season.  Whilst fans calling for Nigel’s head will remain firmly in the minority for the time being, Nigel’s injury ravaged Derby side need to put on a resolute display at home on Saturday, against high fliers Sheffield Wednesday, to silence the ever-growing doubters.

Derby came into this game off the back of four consecutive defeats; a positive result was imperative. In true Derby style, the Rams refused to do things the simple way, and instead took the 27,000 strong Pride Park crowd on an 85 minute rollercoaster ride of missed opportunities.

The Pride Park heart attacks began in just the second minute; City forced Derby back into their own box, allowing Costa Rican striker Álvaro Saborío a header at close range. Luckily for the Rams, the new defensive partnership of Leacock and Barker were able to block the ball sufficiently for Bywater to come out on top of the goal mouth scramble that ensued.

The first half continued with neither side looking particularly keen to grab the game by the scruff of the neck. Orr and Sno both shot worryingly wide from just outside of the penalty box for City, but the visitors were unable to make much headway beyond that.

The second half marked what was probably the most exciting 45 minutes of football at Pride Park this season. The Rams shot out of blocks with debutant James Vaughan pushing hard for his first Derby goal but was ultimately matched by City keeper Basso.

The excitement really began just after the 50 minute mark as Rob Hulse was wrestled to the ground by Bristol captain McCombe.  Hulse appeared to throw the ball at McCombe’s feet; as the two stood up they came face to face and in a theatrical performance worthy of a part in a West End play McCombe threw himself backwards in an attempt to get the Derby man sent off for a head butt.  The two never made contact. The resultant yellow card for McCombe became particularly costly when less than two minutes later the Bristol man blocked Hulse as he stormed towards the box.  The referee had no choice but to reach for the second yellow and relegate the Bristol captain to the dressing room.

The sending off proved to be a turning point in the game as Derby surged onwards with their man advantage.  The dominant Derby however appeared unable to get a ball on target, shot after shot went horribly off target or were saved all to easily by Basso.

Croft should have put the Rams ahead when he was gifted the ball by horrendous clearance by Basso; with the City keeper left perilously on the edge of his own box all Croft had to do was pass the ball into the net. Instead he blasted it wide and over; the miss was almost criminal.

Gary Teale on the opposite wing had been having an absolute horror of a game; cries for his substitution echoed around Pride Park. It was the Scotsman however who was to grab the points for the Rams. Teale received the ball from Barker well within his own half, moving swiftly down the left wing the Scot cut inwards beating the City defence to shoot low from 25 yards beating Basso at his near post.  Out of all the players in a Derby shirt Teale had perhaps looked to be the least likely to score; but then again who can predict football!?

Three points should never be bemoaned, but in a game when Derby had no less than twenty attempts on goal questions should really be asked about the quality of the final ball from many players.  The biggest plus to come from the game was undoubtedly the return of Leacock and his partnership with Shaun Barker, this pairing looked solid and hopefully they will be able to build upon this strong start against the impressive Cardiff strike force on Tuesday night.

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.