Derby County 4-1 Barnsley

Barnsley manager Jose Morais only won three of his 15 games in charge

Barnsley were relegated from the Championship and parted company with head coach Jose Morais as they slipped to a heavy defeat against a Derby side who secured the final play-off place.

The Tykes could have lost and still stayed up, depending on other results.

Although rivals Burton lost at Preston, Bolton beat Nottingham Forest with two late goals to send Barnsley down.

Cameron Jerome, Matej Vydra, David Nugent and Tom Lawrence scored for Derby, with George Moncur replying.

• Morais leaves Barnsley after relegation

• Relive the final day of Championship action

Jose Morais, who only joined Barnsley in February, had a clause in his contract to leave following relegation and the club confirmed the Portuguese's exit within 30 minutes of the final whistle.

The Tykes still finished above Burton, who conceded a late goal to lose against 10-man Preston.

And Bolton were losing 2-1 with three minutes remaining - a result that would have seen the Tykes stay up on goal difference.

But the Trotters scored twice at the death to break Barnsley hearts.

Realistically, Gary Rowett's play-off chasing Derby side needed just a point to prolong a topsy-turvy season which saw them in with a great chance of automatic promotion until they fell away in the new year.

The won this match at a canter to ensure a play-off double-header against Fulham, who missed out on a top-two spot by losing to Birmingham.

Jerome sets Rams on their way

Cameron Jerome's first-half strike was his fourth goal in three matches for Derby

Jerome's first-half one-on-one finish on the break, after great work by Bradley Johnson, settled early nerves.

It was the striker's fourth goal in three games for the Rams and they stormed to victory after the interval.

Substitute Vydra's close-range strike as good as sealed the win against a Tykes side who showed plenty of commitment but offered very little goal threat despite a lively start.

Vydra teed up fellow substitute Nugent to head the third, and Lawrence tapped in number four after some excellent approach play by Nugent.

Barnsley pulled one back with 10 minutes remaining when Moncur smashed a superb strike into the top corner.

With moments to go, Derby were on course to finish fifth, but former Rams striker Patrick Bamford grabbed a 97th-minute equaliser for Middlesbrough against Ipswich to ensure it was Boro who will face Aston Villa in the play-offs.

Barnsley's season of struggle

Barnsley's second season back in the Championship took an unexpected twist at the start of February, when they were one point above the relegation zone, as manager Paul Heckingbottom left to take charge of Yorkshire rivals Leeds United.

The departure of Heckingbottom, who had overseen Barnsley's promotion from League One in 2016 and guided them to a creditable 14th-place finish last term, "shocked" the club as it had come a few days after he had signed a new rolling contract at Oakwell.

Morais arrived as head coach, but only three wins in 15 matches have followed and he has now gone again.

Barnsley have struggled for goals, with none of their players managing to reach double figures for league goals this term. Tom Bradshaw topped the list with nine.

Sunday's result ensured that, despite Barnsley finishing above Wolves on goal difference in 2016-17, the Tykes will be playing two divisions below this season's champions in August.

Derby County manager Gary Rowett:

"If you had asked me about the play-offs about eight or nine games ago I would have said, even if we get in, we're not going to have enough momentum or form to really challenge, although we know they are unpredictable.

"What I would say now is, after the last four games, we have performed really well in different ways in all of them. You can see with the players when they train there's a bit of extra zip and a bit of extra belief.

"As we know sometimes, you can change the formation but it's about affecting the players' psychology and that's what the last four games have done. They will be going into these next games full of determination and we've almost been given a second chance.

"All the sides in there are good sides and have good quality, us included, and are more then capable of winning the play-offs - and I don't think form is going to have that much bearing on what happens now."