'Wrong approach denied Rams first home win'

After collecting our first three-point haul of the season at The Hawthorns, Derby were looking to carry momentum into the home game with Preston.

Prior to kick-off, many fans were confident we'd see a more attacking approach at home, perhaps shuffling to four at the back, as opposed to the back five and low-block tactic deployed the previous week.

In a shock to many, though, John Eustace had opted to keep the back five at home, looking to play quickly on the counter attack with Bobby Clark and Ben Brereton Diaz to provide the width.

However, after the 15-minute mark it became apparent this was the wrong move from Eustace, which is not something Derby fans have said often since the beginning of his tenure.

The approach across the whole of the first half felt very similar to the football we'd seen under Paul Warne, lacking in creativity and ideas, with our only real pattern of play seeming to be to pass across the back line and then play the long ball forwards towards Brereton Diaz or Carlton Morris, who both had equally tough aerial battles throughout the afternoon.

A stunning strike from Alfie Devine saw the visitors take a 1-0 lead into the break, despite many feeling that conceding could have been prevented had our defence got tighter to close down the space Devine had to take the shot.

Derby needed to come out differently in the second half - a change of personnel and change of shape was desperately needed, and that's exactly what Eustace provided.

Patrick Agyemang was introduced for his home debut with Callum Elder being replaced, and playing with a back four saw a much better second half from Derby.

Agyemang showed his worth by being a handful for the Preston defence, carving out a few opportunities, but despite Derby's best attacking efforts, and Eustace throwing the kitchen sink at it by introducing Lars Jorgen Salvesen for his first game in over six months, the Rams just could not find the equaliser.

A disappointing first half really felt like it had killed us. After a 'smash and grab' performance at The Hawthorns, it felt like this weekend we were now on the receiving end of that kind of away display.

Credit to Preston who defended resolutely and ground out a result, but perhaps a point would have been the fairest outcome in a game of two halves.

Derby must now regroup and take learnings from their unacceptable first-half performance before a difficult trip to Wrexham on Saturday, while also focusing on all the things they did right in an attacking sense in the second half.

Against opposition of a higher calibre on the road such as West Brom, you can understand why the low-block tactic and back five would be deployed. But you'd like to think Wrexham is a winnable game on paper for Derby, and should we line up with four at the back and take the game to them from the first whistle, I don't see why the Rams can't bounce back and take something from the game.

Set up with the back five, however, and invite pressure from a team high on confidence after a good away win, and it may be a case of unwanted deja vu for the Rams.

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