Derby County 4-0 Bristol City

Derby next play away to Ipswich Town on Saturday, when Bristol City play QPR at home

Derby winger Tom Ince hit a hat-trick as Paul Clement's side climbed to third in the Championship with a comfortable victory over struggling Bristol City.

The 23-year-old opened the scoring with a low finish after a mazy run three minutes before the break.

He got his second with a shot that went in under Frankie Fielding, and combined with Darren Bent to complete the treble before Johnny Russell headed home.

Steve Cotterill's City side slip to 21st, one point above the drop zone.

Just two minutes before Ince put Derby ahead, Nathan Baker hit the post for the away side, connecting with an in-swinging Joe Bryan free-kick, while Bent had earlier struck the crossbar with a header from Jeff Hendrick's cross.

Derby are now two points off the automatic promotion places, but Hull could climb back above them into third if they beat Reading by three goals on Wednesday.

City beat Huddersfield 2-1 away on Saturday to register their first win in five matches, but with the Terriers beating Rotherham and MK Dons beating Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday, they fall from 19th to 21st - one place above the relegation places.

The Robins next play Queens Park Rangers at home in a 15:00 GMT kick-off on Saturday, when Derby are away to Ipswich.

Derby head coach Paul Clement:

"I'm very pleased for Tom Ince, he's been a little bit inconsistent by his standards so far this season so it was a very good performance from him and will be brilliant for his confidence.

"I've spoken to him about being mentally strong and during good times not getting too excited and thinking you're the best player in the world.

"When things are not going so well, you don't listen too much to the criticism because things can change really quickly and he's come through it brilliantly."

Bristol City manager Steve Cotterill:

"We didn't pass the ball like we normally do. We weren't good enough to take them on and we didn't show enough courage to pass the ball.

"In the first half I thought we kept them at arms' length but then there was some individual brilliance from Ince for the first goal.

"In the second half we were the better team for 20 minutes but conceded a goal against the run of play and then there was no way back for us."