It’s matchday at Pride Park again, where to the shock of some, John Eustace remains in the dugout. But the Rams head coach is “not surprised” despite going through a “really testing period”. Questions about his future continue to swirl and will surely only intensify if Bolton leave Derby victorious. But the 47-year-old has not had any conversations with anyone at the club about his position. Furthermore, Eustace has had no indication that the game is ‘must-win’. “Well, I

Sounding downtrodden and subdued following a 4-0 home defeat to Norwich, John Eustace could offer little assurance that he will still be in the dugout come Friday night. While he is “not a quitter”, the head coach conceded that, “We'll have to wait and see. The club's much bigger than me.” It was an utterly miserable birthday for the former Rams midfielder, whose side suffered their heaviest defeat since his first game in charge. With further injury blows to Ryan Hedges (ha

This could be a hugely consequential week for John Eustace and Derby County. Already four points from safety after 13 games, two home fixtures present a big opportunity to get their season back on track. They certainly cannot afford another hammering. Speaking to the press on Monday, Eustace said: “I think it's a big week for the football club. We're obviously all in it together and tomorrow night's the most important game. We're not worried about the one after that, tomorr

Deflated, dejected and drained, Derby left The Den defeated again. Derby fans left The Den asking, “Where were the spirit and the defensive discipline that we saw at Sheffield United?” Fundamentals basics of defending were absent from the off.

Derby may currently be “in a relegation battle” but after the spirited draw at Bramall Lane, John Eustace is upbeat. “I don't think the confidence has ever gone,” he told the media on Thursday, citing “lots of circumstances why we've let leads slip or conceded in difficult moments.” It seems fair to file Dion Sanderson’s sending off last weekend among those. Next to it, is a rather large file marked injuries. But the likes Jacob Widell Zetterström, Alex Mowatt and Max Joh

Photo: Joe Egerton Bravo to the travelling Rams fans who braved the yellow-warning-worthy weather to travel to Bramall Lane. If only Dion Sanderson had heeded his. A goal to the good thanks to Bobby Clark, Derby were relatively in control when the centre back went in on substitute Femi Seriki as he led a Sheffield United counter down their left. Some will argue it was soft, but with Ryan Hedges and Sam Szmodics covering, the challenge was needless. And it left referee Ste

When a manager walks into a post-match press conference after a hard-fought 1-0 away win, the first thing they are meant to do is sing the praises of their side. Not Mark Robins. Instead, he leapt to the defence of John Eustace, whose side are still without a home victory this season. “He’s got a lot of injuries, John. Loads and loads of injuries, mostly in the backline, but a key injury to [forward] Patrick Agyemang. He’s a really good player. “So, he’s got a lot of in

The 4-0 defeat to Queens Park Rangers that was John Eustace’s first game in charge of Derby laid bare the difficulty of the job he had taken on. Now keeping it seems a bigger task than ever. Looking to build on the positives of Saturday’s 1-1 draw at home to Wrexham, the Rams boss named an unchanged XI at Loftus Road. Also unchanged, were Derby’s fortunes from that night exactly 20 months ago. This was a horrendous of full circle moment. Yes, I’d written that before Lars-

The confirmation of the inevitable administration season relegation. The Valentine’s Day thrashing which was the John Eustace era’s nightmare start. And, ugh, Bobby Zamora. Queens Park Rangers have not been the kindest of opponents for Derby in recent years. While demons were banished when Jaydon Banel kept the Rams’ play-off hopes alive with a stunning 88th minute winner back in April, Eustace’s mind is focused firmly on the job at hand. He said: “we’re in a different posi

At half-time, Sam Griffiths knew she needed to do something. Playing at Pride Park for the first time in two-and-a-half years, her Ewes side were behind. Sian Gibrill-Keating had nodded Hull City Ladies in front after getting on the end of a free kick midway through the first half. Not long after Derby captain Emily Joyce had headed against the bar from a corner at the other end, it was the golden chance that Hull had been begging for. On what was arguably the biggest occas

Mo Fuseini sprints through the middle of the pitch following a Wrexham corner and finds Sam Szmodics. He might not have the same pace, but he oozes confidence as he connects with the pass across the inside-left, takes it around Zak Vyner to open up space and curls it into the top-left corner from 20 yards. Three weeks on the training ground brought a refreshed, better-drilled Rams side back to Pride Park. It is just a shame that Wrexham’s birthday boy Ollie Rathbone was int

With a cartwheel, back flip and a flex of his muscles, Mo Fuseini sprinted away in celebration. When he received Rhian Brewster’s pass from just behind the halfway line and raced through down the inside-right, the Ghanaian attacker had the weight of his team on his shoulders After 92 minutes of pedestrian, lacklustre football between two of the Championship’s bottom three, a chance to rescue a deserved point at Turf Moor. The lightning fast forward delivered a finish to mat

'When it rains, it pours’ is no longer an adequate way to describe Derby County’s injury crisis: the Moor Farm treatment room is now flooded. Carlton Morris is back, and Rhian Brewster has sat out for the period mandated under the concussion protocol. But the Rams’ injury list is still extensive (now nine players long), with number one Jacob Widell Zetterström the latest addition with an “impact” injury to his knee. “Obviously he’s not in a good way,” John Eustace told Th

Three consecutive defeats for the first time since John Eustace’s first three games in charge; this is the lowest ebb of the head coach’s Rams tenure. His side end a bruising week with two losses. To ten-man West Brom, who had not won at Pride Park in 23 years, and Birmingham City, in what was just the second loss in seven games where Eustace has faced a club he previously managed. That is not to say that the 46-year-old’s job prospects are terminal – he has brought Derby

Given his surname, maybe it should not be surprising that the way James Morrison’s Baggies side shut up shop on Wednesday night was supremely impressive. There was wave after wave of Derby pressure, with no real threat to Max O’Leary’s goal. West Brom remained steadfastly alert off the ball despite being a player down for over an hour. Unfortunately for John Eustace, possession does not win you points; 78 per cent in the second half would have easily secured all three if it

After Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at West Ham, John Eustace called for his side to have more belief. What better way to cultivate that than with a rallying cry as in Monday’s pre-match press conference? In the opening month of the season, the Rams boss has spoken regularly about the need to build confidence and chemistry in his ranks. After a tough afternoon in front of more than 60,000 fans in London, a week with back-to-back home games against West Brom and Birmingham City repr

Leading The Rams on their first trip to the London Stadium, it looked as though John Eustace had one plan in mind: keep it tight. Facing West Ham was always going to be a tough task. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side possess two starting centre backs bought for a total of £60m, and the Championship’s most expensive import after they signed Celtic’s Belgian midfielder Arne Engels for £25m. Then there's Jarrod Bowen, who really should be playing European football this season. But un

How’s that for a response? After the depths of Saturday’s dismal defeat to Swansea and fears of regression if new faces did not arrive Tuesday brought a glorious fightback. John Eustace’s “true warriors” secured a 2-0 win over Portsmouth. Nobody at Fratton Park embodied that spirit more than Lars-Jørgen Salvesen. He scored within three minutes of coming off the bench, just hours after rejecting a loan move and opting to fight for his place. Eustace told BBC Radio Derby:

Is it dramatic to call today season defining? Not the trip to Fratton Park. Whether Derby bring back three points, one, or none, there is still so much football to play. But whether The Rams will have enough fit players with enough quality to avoid regressing, which John Eustace reiterated was a possibility on Monday. “Of course there is [a possibility of going backwards], but if that happens, then that happens. It's really important that we keep positive, and we understa

What’s Welsh for Blaugrana? Between Swansea’s deep blue and red away kit, and the way they effortlessly knocked the ball around amid Derby’s calamitous defending, watching Vitor Matos’ men was like watching Barcelona. Okay, not quite. But witnessing the way that The Rams were toyed with on a grim Saturday afternoon will have left many fans at the end of their tether.