'Derby have fought for their chance to survive'

I'm pretty sure I won't be the only one who still hasn't quite recovered from Saturday.

An afternoon of frustration, jangled nerves, and finally euphoria.

The away end at Hull on Saturday was something I haven't experienced from a Derby crowd since we beat Leeds away in the play-off semi-final second leg under Frank Lampard in 2019.

It was like the Derby faithful knew something was on the horizon the moment we were awarded that free-kick.

Encouraging and excitable cheers rang out from the away supporters as the referee blew his whistle and signalled for the foul.

The kind of cheers you hear when your team are awarded a penalty, not a free-kick on the left flank.

But Craig Forsyth's perfect cross, Nat Philips' perfect header, and the sold out corner of Derby County supporters' perfect celebrations proved we had every right to be excited.

Lifting strangers up off the ground after celebrating, hugging the person next to me who doesn't even know my name as the full-time whistle blew, screaming out chants in harmony with 2,286 others who all shared the same emotion, passion, desire, and prayers as each other for 94 minutes.

How special is football?

Saturday's result makes survival chances much higher for the Rams…

However, this is the Championship, and if there's any league that's guaranteed final day drama, it's this one.

Derby will have to make sure they keep their composure, execute the basics, and most importantly not let the occasion get the better of them, knowing full well that Stoke City also come to Pride Park with plenty of incentive to win the game themselves.

It's been far from easy for Derby this season, with our fate still needing to be decided on the final day reinforcing that.

But this club has kept fighting, even when we looked down and out, seven points from safety and rock bottom of the table just eight weeks ago.

What a turnaround it's been.

I've been like a kid at Christmas waiting for this game to roll around, a rocking Pride Park, high-pressure moments, these are things you live for as a fan.

As Jamie Thrasivoulou says in his 'We are Derby' poem: "We're resilience in the flesh, we've never settled for second best."

Tomorrow if we refrain from being second best, Championship football is ours again next season.

Seems simple doesn't it!

Fighters not victims, together as one, let's get the job done.

You can often catch Amelia Warren as a guest on BBC Radio Derby.