When Jacob Widell Zetterström dived down to his left to push away Mohamed Toure’s poor penalty after eight minutes, Derby should have woken up.   The opening stages had been nervy, sloppy even. The Rams’ number one had already had to dash out of his goal twice, first to beat Liam Gibbs to a loose ball, and then to clear Sondre Langås’ weak backwards header.   Making his first start in nearly three months as Dion Sanderson was given a night off playing through the pain barrier

Travelling 70 yards in eight seconds, Jaydon Banel executed Derby’s only successful dribble of the first half.   It was more than a dribble.   Released by Sam Szmodics on the edge of his own box following an Oxford throw, the Dutchman motored majestically from coast to coast, cutting inside two defenders and drilling the ball through Myles Peart-Harris’ legs and into the bottom-left corner.   It surely got the approval of his compatriot Robin van Der Laan and his former Rams

The flock are ¡Olé!-ing in the Easter sunshine. In cruise control, Derby are taunting Stoke as they look to see out a fifth-straight win at Pride Park for the first time since October 2019.   And then the goal that Carlton Morris had so deserved. At last, an 11 th  of the season, nearly four months since he previously found the net .   Unlike his goal in Staffordshire , this was not just a neat bit of individual quality, but a sublime team move. Starting with Morris flicking

“We’re really excited, we’re playing against the best team in the league. We’ve got nothing to lose.” John Eustace told Sky Sports in his pre-match interview.   And despite the absence of Sam Szmodics and Rhian Brewster, who will miss the rest of the season following knee surgery, adding to an already lengthy injury list, his side played like it. While this encounter may not quite have lived up to the 5-3 at Pride Park back in August , it was still utterly enthralling, with m

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

As the full-time whistle sounded at Vicarage Road, John Eustace clearly felt the need for some brutal honesty.   “We let ourselves down,” he told RamsTV , “We were too slow with the ball. Physically, we got beat up.”   This is about as harsh as we’ve heard John Eustace in his 50 games in charge, who even rejected opportunities to give a more upbeat slant. On BBC Radio Derby , he instead reaffirmed his view that Derby “weren’t competitive enough” over the 90 minutes.   So, in

When Lewis Travis unceremoniously headed the ball into his own net after eight minutes, you got the feeling it would be one of those days for Derby.   When The Rams skipper was given his marching orders in a fiery period of second half stoppage time, that feeling proved correct.   After the euphoric high of the 5-0 win at Bristol City, this unfortunate afternoon brought the Pride Park faithful back down to Earth. The play-off chase is on, but home form remains the barrier.  

Analysis of Derby County's 1-1 EFL Championship draw with Portsmouth, while looking ahead to The Rams' upcoming fixtures. Featuring quotes from John Eustace.

In the driving rain on a cold Monday night at Hillsborough, the ball breaks for Liam Thompson.   He takes a touch before finding the bottom-right corner with an effort he had drilled into the ground, prompting a rush towards a rapturous away end of 3,900.   But the pain he feels as he unwittingly knee-slides on AstroTurf is nothing compared to that felt by administration-stricken Sheffield Wednesday.   Could there have been a more fitting opponent for Thompson, who broke into

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

If there is one thing that is coming to characterise this Derby squad, it is players stepping up in the hour of need.

Forget jelly and ice cream, forget the cake, Blackburn Rovers had more corners than a Müller factory at their 150 th  birthday party. Among the esteemed guests, Colin Hendrie, Morten Gamst Pedersen, Tony Mowbray and David Dunn. An array of cultured footballing folk, invited back to Ewood Park.   But less welcome returns were made by John Eustace, and the band of former Blackburn players within his Derby side, whose job it was to sour the occasion. And that they did, surely sh

Lars-Jørgen Salvesen celebrates in front of the south stand after the final whistle (Photo: Joe Egerton). In the soggy conditions, it always felt as though someone was going to slip up.   When Ivor Pandur did, under pressure from Andi Weimann, enter Lars-Jørgen Salvesen. He’d only been on the pitch a matter of seconds, but the Norwegian composed himself quickly.   First a deft clip with his right boot. A second to breathe.   Then, as he lifted the ball over Pandur with his le

Match report and analysis as Carlton Morris hits a hat-trick in Derby County's 3-1 EFL Championship victory at Sheffield United.

Match report and analysis with quotes from John Eustace following Derby County's 1-0 win over Queens Park Rangers in the EFL Championship.

Outplayed. Outbattled. Outclassed.   This was not against a high-flier such as Stoke or Coventry – Derby were more competitive against them.   This was Oxford. The first of four fellow-bottom-six sides The Rams will play before the November international break. A side, like Derby, who were yet to win at home this season.   Any green shoots from The Rams three consecutive draws were trampled by Rowett’s U’s – perhaps they lacked the steel of injured captain Lewis Travis?   Des

Archie Brown is a football journalist and content creator. You can follow him on Instagram , TikTok and X . Transfers. They are, for many fans, among the most exciting parts of football. And it's fair to say that there have been a fair few at Pride Park in recent times. Here, Archie Brown brings you seven former Rams you probably forgot about. 1.      Ikechi Anya   Joining in August 2016 from Watford in a deal believed to be worth around £4m, the versatile Scotland Internati

Match report and analysis with quotes from John Eustace and Will Still following the 1-1 EFL Championship draw between Derby County and Southampton.

In his programme notes, John Eustace wrote: “Nathan Jones’ sides are notoriously difficult to play against.”   Isn’t that the truth?  ...

Lewis O’Brien crunched into a challenge on Ebou Adams, proceeding to get most of the midfielder, and, crucially, none of the ball. How’s that for a welcome to Wrexham?