Marvelling at Addicks' unbeaten autumn run

Cast your mind back to February 2024 when Charlton Athletic last visited Pride Park.

Nathan Jones had only recently joined us and the club were in a precarious position. There were real fears about relegation to League Two, but we chalked up an excellent 2-1 win after initially trailing, with goals from Alfie May and Karoy Anderson.

It kick-started our fortunes under Jones and here we were, back in Derby some 19 months later, competing in the upper echelons of the Championship.

So, after this 1-1 draw against the Rams, we are four matches unbeaten in this unforgiving league - a marvellous early autumnal run in September.

Our goal was a wonderful fusion of team play, allied with James Bree's superb composure, technique and execution.

By the way, where has he been hiding? He's just literally come into the building. We don't play 4-4-2 but he's all over it with 4-2-2. Four matches - two goals, two assists. What an impact!

However, Derby County have already demonstrated on a few occasions this season they can recover from being a goal behind and so it proved to Charlton's cost.

It was encouraging to see our new goalkeeper, Thomas Kaminski, forced into action, making two fine saves on the night.

It was also good to see Luke Berry back amongst our ranks, albeit as an unused substitute.

To counter this, Josh Edwards is to see a specialist concerning the ankle injury he sustained in the home win over Blackburn Rovers, which is a worrying sign.

To augment his consistent midfield performances, captain Greg Docherty is fast becoming Bree's personal goal assistant as the two combined in consecutive matches.

One concern is the extent to which we were on the back foot as Derby poured forward. We could face more of the same up at Preston on Saturday, so we need to find ways of wrestling the initiative off teams, particularly on our travels.

Despite this, we still had a couple of chances towards the end of the contest.

Us fans share Nathan Jones' "mixed emotions" as psychologically, it's always disappointing to relinquish a lead, especially as you start to reach the latter stages of the match.

My post-match musings rest on it being a fair result.

Paul Sullivan provides commentary on Charlton Athletic games for the visually impaired.