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

Sometimes the written word alone is not enough to adequately express frustration. Take the ‘enraged face’ emoji which accompanied the Derby County tweet when Patrick Agyemang’s 94 th -minute effort struck the post. The ball just would not go in. It should have been the perfect crescendo to the final 25 minutes, where Eustace had thrown players forward to great effect. The Rams fashioning three other golden chances. First, Agyemang’s great strength to hold off Tristan Cr

It’s 0-0 with nine minutes to play. Derby and Millwall have been locked in an intensely physical battle. Scrappy doesn’t really do it justice. In a game with more aerial duels than a Battle of Britain re-enactment, Thierno Ballo wraps his foot around the ball for what must be cross number 300. As he has done countless times, Matt Clarke dives to head the ball clear, but instead it flies into the back of the net. Even captain for the evening Sondre “quicker than Mbappé” Lang