Derby County 3-0 Nottingham Forest
- Published
It took Will Hughes 22 appearances to get on the scoresheet for Derby this season
Will Hughes scored his first goal of the season as Derby County extended their winning run to six matches with a dominant display against East Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest.
Nicklas Bendtner's unfortunate headed own goal put Derby ahead at the break.
A fine run and finish from Tom Ince, after getting on the end of a superb Chris Baird pass, made it 2-0.
Hughes completed the win with a tap-in, after Johnny Russell had a shot saved, to take the Rams up to fifth.
The Rams rejuvenation under Steve McClaren reached new heights against the Reds, a side he previously managed, as victory and a sixth clean sheet at home moved them into the play-off positions for the first time this season.
Defeat brings Forest's own three-match winning run to an end and sees them slip one spot to 16th in the Championship, seven points adrift of their bitter rivals Derby.
The meeting of the near neighbours produced the fiery atmosphere to be expected with four players booked inside the first 11 minutes, starting with a clash between Derby's Bradley Johnson and Forest's Ben Osborn.
In an evenly contested first 45 minutes, Bendtner's own goal from a flicked Russell header at the near post saw the hosts edge ahead.
It was more commanding after the break, with Baird's ball from defence, throwing Michael Mancienne off balance in defence to allow Ince space to run, was the defining moment, while Hughes added the third at the end of a influential performance.
Derby County boss Steve McClaren: "It's a huge win for the supporters and will make their week and a huge three points for us that puts us up there, but I'm still not looking at the table.
"There's a long way to go. Someone did say we are fifth and I told them to shut up! It's not where you are now but we are delighted to climb up the league and to do it in the manner that we are.
"I thought we earned the right to play in the first half and sorted things out. In the second half we played football, we gave the wide players more licence to go one-on-one and that's how we got the two goals."
Nottingham Forest manager Philippe Montanier: "The first half was correct but I don't understand the second half because we lost our shape and we played a poor second half, physically, technically and tactically.
"During a derby game you need to play a full game at 100% and at 1-0 you can come back, but we needed to play at a good level.
"We had no opportunity of scoring and it was easy for Derby County to score because we did not have a good discipline."