Better stuff from Derby, now.

Kayden Jackson sends a ball curling into the Blackburn box and Kane Wilson gets a head to it, but his effort goes wide of the post.

Image source, PA Media

Makhtar Gueye is escorted to the touchline after his treatment but the Blackburn forward is cleared to play on upon the restart.

Perhaps a touch of cramp? Either way, he's up and about to the relief of the home fans. Maybe less so to Derby, who've had their hands full dealing with him this evening.

A whopping 5,081 days passed between Lee Gregory's last two goals for Mansfield Town.

The 35-year-old's first and only previous Mansfield goal came 13 years, 10 months, and 29 days ago.

(I'm sure you'll remember... it was the winner at Southport in what was the Blue Square Premier on 11 September 2010)

Eric Steele
Former Derby and Man Utd goalkeeper on BBC Radio Derby

If you have a centre-forward that really wants to score he gets in there and gets a tap in.

The minimum he has to do there is get in front of the defender.

You have to anticipate before the defender, he may make a mistake and he could score you the goal also anyway.

We've got a break in play at Ewood Park as Makhtar Gueye is down receiving some treatment.

Looks like Blackburn are bracing a change and new signing Yuki Ohashi is about to come on.

That Gus Hamer goal had come after Preston almost levelled at the other end of the field.

Ben Whiteman had fired from outside the box and Will Keane tried to deflect it into the net but, in the process, ended up clearing the ball away from danger.

Not a great series of events for the hosts.

Makhtar Gueye once again is teed up on the edge of the Derby box and the Blackburn man spins and works into space before getting a shot away.

But his low effort fails to hit the target.

A lively start to the second half at Ewood Park.

Derby, somehow, can't quite find an equaliser having raced out of the blocks in the second half against Blackburn.

A ball's whipped in and Tom Barkhuizen diverts it towards goal to surely level this fixture up, but Aynsley Pears pulls off a tremendous save to deny him and then to keep out the rebound as the ball pinballs about the box.

Can Preston put the end of last season behind them and find an equaliser against Sheffield United and push towards a better start to this campaign than the one they finished a few months ago?

Ryan Lowe's side lost their final five games of the 2023-24 campaign and failed to score in that time.

They're yet to score tonight but finished the first half strongly.

Eric Steele
Former Derby and Man Utd goalkeeper on BBC Radio Derby

In the end it is the final ball that keeps costing us.

Fifth corner already for Derby.

The second halves of tonight's fixtures in the Championship, League One and League Two are getting under way.

Who's going to start the season with a win?

Ben: Great to see Lee Gregory getting off the mark for Mansfield. Sheffield Wednesday legend!

Jake: Left ear is ringing a bit! Lots of noise from the Mansfield away end.

For the first time since 1997-98, all three teams promoted to the Premier League came straight back down last season.

Sheffield United, Burnley and Luton managed just 14 wins between them in a campaign where none of the three broke the 30-point mark.

How are they shaping up coming into this season? BBC Sport has had a look at the lay of the land of the three familiar newcomers.

Image source, Rex Features/Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

We're braced for our first EFL action of the season right now but over the course of today we've teed up the new season.

We've taken you through each of the 72 EFL clubs and given you a guide to how they're placed for the season ahead.

If you missed it then fear not, you can catch up here.

Image source, Getty Images

The summer starts to end when the English Football League begins.

But some of the EFL's biggest stars have had little time on the sun loungers sipping cocktails as they have been playing in big international tournaments for their countries.

BBC Sport looks at some of the summer's international stand-outs who may well be lighting up the English Football League this season.

Among them is a man who got the better of Cristiano Ronaldo - and another whose middle name is Zidane. Yes, you read that right...

Chesterfield took just 15 minutes to get their first goal back in the EFL after six years away. Armando Dobra first to react on a rebound to poke home.

It's really been one-way traffic and Swindon have their goalkeeper Jack Bycroft to thank for preventing Will Grigg from doubling the score later in the half.

Mansfield well and truly bounced into League One with two early goals from Stephen Quinn and Lee Gregory stunning Barnsley and the Oakwell crowd.

But, a slice of good fortune for the home side through a deflected goal from Luca Connell, means the second half is beautifully set up.

Sheffield United are ahead at half-time against Preston but it's been a decent half of football.

The Blades had dominated the opening stages, leading through Oliver Arblaster's deflected shot, but Preston have grown into this game and look more threatening now than they did to start with.

Image source, Getty Images

Eric Steele
Former Derby and Man Utd goalkeeper on BBC Radio Derby

Derby did recover, they had a lot of the ball as the tempo dropped.

They finished the half better than they started, it was a bit frantic in the opening stages.