Derby County

"Don't worry, we've found the ball."

Leeds United forward Patrick Bamford tells the story of how then Derby County manager Steve McClaren reacted when he attempted 'the wobble ball' during an afternoon kick-off.

Listen to the full series of 'My Mate's A Footballer' on BBC Sounds

Image source, BBC Sport

Derby County welcome Portsmouth to Pride Park on Friday evening for an important clash in the battle to avoid relegation.

The Rams are without a win in six (D3 L3) and are currently 17th in the Championship, four points above the drop zone, following a hard-fought 0-0 draw at Burnley on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Pompey are in much-improved form with two wins and two draws in their past four matches, which has lifted them out of the bottom three on goal difference.

• Derby County are unbeaten across their past eight league games against Portsmouth (W3 D5), with each of the previous four encounters ending in a draw.

• Portsmouth have failed to win any of their past five away league games against Derby (D3 L2), since a 2-1 victory at Pride Park in November 2002.

• Derby are winless in their past four home league games (D2 L2) and could lose three in a row on home soil for the first time since October 2020 (run of five).

• Portsmouth have already conceded 20 goals in their first nine away league games this season (W1 D4 L4); Pompey last conceded more than 20 goals in their first 10 away league games of a season in 1999-00 in the second tier (24).

• Derby have won each of their past four home league games played on Fridays, while Portsmouth are unbeaten in their past eight away Friday league games (W3 D5).

Image source, Rex Features

Derby County head coach Paul Warne said he will make changes to the starting line-up for their Championship clash with Portsmouth on Friday night.

The Rams boss made five changes from the 2-0 defeat at Leeds for the trip to Burnley on Tuesday, which saw Derby come away with a hard-earned point.

With just another three-day turnaround, Warne said the coaching staff are "trying to manage people as well as we can".

"Obviously at times players don't want to be managed; they want to play every minute of every game," Warne told BBC's Rams Daily podcast.

"But it enables us to keep the team reasonably fresh by the changes we made, and it enables us again for tomorrow's game to make changes and start with a real fit group.

"That's what I'm pleased about the most with it, I think. We came out of it, got a point, and a really good vocal away following that we thank you for.

"We get a point, no injuries, and we go into a home game."

Warne also expects defender Eiran Cashin to be fit for the game against Pompey despite hinting at suffering with a hamstring issue at Turf Moor.

"He should be okay," Warne added. "He was a bit aware of something. He might have overdramatised it a little bit.

"If Cashin's injury had been worse, and he had to come off, they're always the things in the game you can't predict. But I'm hopeful that he might be able to play a part tomorrow night."

You can listen to Paul Warne's full pre-match press conference on BBC Sounds.

Ed Dawes
BBC Radio Derby commentator

Image source, PA Media

Derby's draw at Burnley proved they can cut it against the big boys in the Championship.

The fallout from the supporters after the Leeds game was justified in parts, but the answer from Paul Warne in this match was total.

Burnley's home record was good. They had conceded just once at home in six games and were unbeaten.

The Rams' run of one win in 10 games was worrying - but the formula found to halt a slide of three straight defeats worked.

Fresh wing-back, a balanced midfield with Ebou Adams returning from suspension.

Jerry Yates having a partner up front in Dajaune Brown, and Liam Thompson's energy pushing him to be one of the Championship's most underrated players.

For all of Burnley's stepovers and quick transition, they found Jacob Widell Zetterstrom's hands defying them.

Adams and Eiran Cashin were immense in defending their goal, while Yates, Marcus Harness and Thompson could have snatched all three points for the Rams in the second half. And they would have deserved it.

Frustration is based on expectation.

Supporters have the belief that their team have a right to be up against these ex-Premier League sides and should have a go at them.

Derby did that and found a renewed sense of confidence that will take them into Friday's game against Portsmouth under the lights at Pride Park.

A night where everyone needs patience and that sprinkling of sugar.

Image source, PA Media

After a weekend where Derby were criticised for settling for damage control in their 2-0 defeat at Leeds United, midfielder Ebou Adams praised the Rams' response at Burnley.

Derby held the promotion-chasers to a goalless draw at Turf Moor, limiting the Clarets to very few opportunities on Tuesday night.

"Look, we can actually compete," Adams told BBC Radio Derby.

"These lot [Burnley] have just come from the Premier League and we've just gone toe-to-toe with them.

"We, I thought, had the best chance with Jerry Yates so I thought we've done really well."

Burnley keeper James Trafford denied Yates a second-half winner, with the Rams striker firing the rebound into the side netting.

But the draw ended Derby's three-game losing run and edged them up into 16th place in the Championship table.

"If we were a little bit more thorough with our passes then we could have got a goal," Adams added.

You can listen to the full post-match reaction on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Rex Features

Derby County head coach Paul Warne has said midfielder David Ozoh's absence due to injury has left him frustrated ahead of his side's trip to Burnley on Tuesday.

Ozoh, 19, joined the Rams on a season-long loan from Crystal Palace this summer but has missed the last 14 league matches since hobbling off with a hamstring injury in the 1-0 win over Cardiff City three months ago.

And with Tuesday's match coming too soon for Ozoh to return to first-team action, Warne has made it no secret he has been left disappointed by the midfielder's continued absence.

"A couple of weeks ago, it felt like we were getting close, but he just isn't comfortable with where he's at," the 51-year-old told BBC Radio Derby.

"He isn't as close to the team as I was led to believe a couple of weeks ago - we're just a bit further behind the curve which is disappointing."

Ozoh impressed for the Rams at the beginning of the season, being a key part of the side which won three of their first five Championship fixtures.

Since then, Derby have won just two of their last 14 without the teenager, but an under-pressure Warne is adamant Ozoh won't be rushed back to the team until he's fully fit.

"If he's exposed to high speed, he just doesn't feel right so we have to manage it carefully," Warne said.

"Everyone is trying so hard to get him back but we've got to get him back right - there's no point in him playing 60 minutes and dropping out and I don't see him for three months.

"It's frustrating for everybody."

Derby County head coach Paul Warne has explained his comments following his side's 2-0 defeat at Leeds United on Saturday.

Goals from Joe Rodon and Max Wober saw the Rams go into half-time two goals down and Warne took criticism from some sections of the Rams faithful for admitting he had told his team not to go out and attack in the second half.

"Of course I understand [the criticism] - if I've paid for a ticket, I want my team to go for it guns a-blazing," Warne told BBC Radio Derby.

Warne's side have now lost their past three league games, and are on a run of five without a win before Tuesday's clash at high-flying Burnley, with the 51-year-old admitting he had wanted to limit the damage a heavy defeat may have caused.

"I am probably more honest than the average manager, and what I said to them at half-time was do not concede the next goal," he said.

"For 20 minutes, they're going to come at you just like they did in the first half, you're just going to have to weather the storm.

"Unfortunately, the only real thing that we created was a good chance off a set-piece.

"If Kane [Wilson] had scored it, it would have gone 2-1 with 15, 20 minutes to go, and the game plan would have looked great."

Ed Dawes
BBC Radio Derby commentator

Image source, Rex Features

For 40 minutes at Elland Road, Derby County stuck to a game plan that was defensive and designed to nullify and frustrate Leeds United.

The hosts went to the top of the table with their 2-0 win, but it will be the manner of the Rams' submission to defeat that will annoy supporters.

Derby were set up not to get beaten five or six nil, even by boss Paul Warne's own admission.

After the Rams went 2-0 down at half-time you might have expected a rethink or change in tactic in the second half. This was not to be and was done purposely - 2-0 down, best not to make it six.

Nearly 3,000 fans made the trip in Storm Darragh for an early kick-off. At around £30 a ticket and the added travel costs, it is hard to believe that those who were there would just turn up and be happy with a backs-to-the-wall display just in case.

Paul Warne's post-match comments to BBC Radio Derby were alarming and some say defeatist. "We're a League One team with a sprinkling of sugar," he said.

Derby won the right to be a Championship club by finishing second in League One.

The playing squad maybe be weaker than some of the best, but the Rams are in the division and should be competing in every game.

If you set up a side not to get thrashed and then back it up by telling them they're League One players, they will be League One players.

By Warne suggesting there was nothing else anyone could think of that would have got Derby a point or even a win, you wonder if that is to be the mantra going forward.

Burnley will look to continue their push for promotion when they welcome Derby County to Turf Moor on Tuesday night.

The Clarets are unbeaten in their past six games (W4 D2) and also undefeated in nine home matches so far this season (W5 D4) following a 1-1 draw at home to Middlesbrough last time out.

The Rams have lost three on the bounce, with the most recent a 2-0 defeat at Leeds, and have won just once in their previous 10 matches (D5 L4).

• Burnley are unbeaten across their past 12 league games against Derby County (W9 D3) since a 1-0 loss in January 2007.

• Derby County have failed to win any of their past eight away league games against Burnley (D3 L5), conceding 2+ goals in six of those matches. The Rams have also failed to score on five of their past seven visits to Turf Moor.

• Burnley are unbeaten in their last 13 league meetings with newly promoted opponents (W9 D4) since a 2-0 defeat to Norwich in the Premier League in April 2022. At home, the Clarets last lost in the league to a promoted side in May 2021 against Leeds (0-4).

• Derby County have only won one of their past seven midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) games in the Championship (D1 L5), although that was their last such game away from home, beating Coventry in November.

• Burnley boss Scott Parker has only lost one of his four previous Championship games against Derby County as a manager (W2 D1), winning both such home games – 3-0 with Fulham in 2019-20 and 2-0 with Bournemouth in 2021-22.

Image source, Rex Features

Derby County boss Paul Warne defended his damage limitation strategy at Elland Road insisting Leeds United were a "Premier League team up against League One with sugar".

With his Rams 2-0 down at the break, Warne conceded some fans would have been wanting his side to "go for it".

He told BBC Radio Derby: "I understand why people would want you to go for it but the honest truth is that this is a very good team that made it very difficult for us when we had the ball.

"Every single one of their players was quicker than ours and apart from being tidy on the ball, I didn't see how we were going to create a chance.

"I know that sounds negative but that's the truth. We are playing a Premier League team with a League One team with a bit of sugar on top.

"The lads competed really well which I'm proud of. You just don't want to be open and that brave that you get ripped apart.

"I could have gone guns out, but if I stood here after a five or six nil defeat the damage in the dressing room could have been colossal."

Image source, PressBox Graphics

Leeds haven't lost back-to-back games yet this season and they'll be determined to continue that record after last weekend's 1-0 defeat at Blackburn shunted them out of the top two.

Victory would lift Daniel Farke's side back above current leaders Sheffield United, who are not in action until Sunday, when they travel to West Brom.

Derby, who are 15th in the table but have a five-point cushion above the bottom three, have only won one of their last nine games - although that came on the road, when the Rams triumphed 2-1 at Coventry earlier this month.

● Leeds United are unbeaten across their last five league games against Derby County (W3 D2), with the Yorkshire outfit netting 12 goals in total across that time.

● Derby County have won just one of their last seven away league games against Leeds United (D3 L3), failing to keep a single clean sheet at Elland Road during that time.

● Leeds have won each of their last six league games at Elland Road, conceding just one goal in the process. They're looking to record four consecutive home clean sheets for the first time since June 2020.

● Derby have both scored and conceded in each of their last nine league games, last having a longer such run between August and November 2005 (15).

● Leeds United manager Daniel Farke has only won one of his six games against Derby in the EFL (D2 L3), although that lone victory did come in his most recent meeting with them (1-0 in April 2021).

Image source, BBC Sport

Dominic Dietrich
BBC Radio Derby journalist

Derby County make the trip to Leeds United in the Championship on Saturday (kick-off 12:30 GMT).

Here's a recap on the main lines from Rams boss Paul Warne's pre-match news conference:

• Midfielder David Ozoh will not travel to Elland Road on Saturday despite Ebou Adams suspension (fifth yellow) - his return is taking longer than expected.

• He urged realism regarding their position in the Championship hierarchy.

• "I don't think we're a bottom four team but our recent run of form suggests we could be."

• He gave players Monday off for a psychological rest.

• He "hopes" that they can strengthen in January and says they need a goal threat "and I've said that virtually since I've been here. I don't want new faces that don't improve us. I'm hopeful we can get a couple of targets that will strengthen us."

Image source, BBC Sport

On the Rams Daily podcast, BBC Radio Derby's Ed Dawes and guests analyse Derby County's upcoming opponents in their matches in the run up to Christmas.

The Rams will face Leeds United, Burnley, Portsmouth and Luton Town before hosting West Bromwich Albion on Boxing Day.

Both Leeds and Burnley are currently in the top three on the Championship table while Portsmouth and Luton are below Derby with Pompey sitting at rock bottom.

"Leeds are expected to be top two all time and there's very little wiggle room for Daniel Farke when it comes to results and performances," BBC Radio Leeds correspondent Adam Pope said on the Rams next opponents Leeds, who they face on Saturday in the early afternoon match.

"There is some discontentment in the season and, particularly, the performances."

You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, BBC Sport

Former Derby goalkeeper Eric Steele believes that it's "way too early" for the Rams to consider sacking boss Paul Warne after their 2-1 defeat by Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday gave them their fourth consecutive league match without a win.

"I keep saying this to the fans: you've got to have a reality check. We were nearly out of business two years ago," Steele told the Rams Daily podcast.

"We are going to have days like we had Sunday, we are going to have days like Bristol City [where the Rams won 3-0 in August] - there's more of them to come."

Derby owner David Clowes took the Rams out of administration in 2022 and has since seen the club return to the Championship after two seasons in the third division.

Upon their promotion last season, Clowes told BBC Radio Derby that the club has "a good Championship budget" though he has also admitted he is a "reluctant" owner and entertained the idea of possible external investment in September.

But Steele believes spending money in the January transfer window will be vital to the rest of Derby's Championship campaign - especially in reinforcing the struggling midfield.

However, the 70-year-old is firmly against the idea that a change in management is needed to see the Rams climb further up the table.

"There's a lot of decisions that are going to have to made in the next month - none of which is to move Paul Warne out the job."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Ed Dawes
BBC Radio Derby commentator

Image source, Rex Features

Anger, sickness and disillusionment. Just a few of the words I have heard and read since the final whistle at Pride Park on Sunday.

Derby County had their second-best first half of the season, the tempo was high, they controlled the game and were creative. The balance in midfield gave the Rams a presence with Liam Thompson and Ben Osborn working in tandem to move them up the pitch.

Sheffield Wednesday had no answer and Derby went ahead with a goal crafted by a move between Eiran Cashin, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Jerry Yates and Marcus Harness before the cross was swept into the net by Ebou Adams. A brilliant move from back to front and a glimpse of what they can do.

The Rams should have added to that tally with the Owls under pressure for most of the first half but Danny Rohl’s half-time team talk for Wednesday hit home and they came out firing in the second half with a higher tempo.

Barry Bannan scored a brilliant equaliser from distance after the Rams switched off in defence and, after Yates failed with two chances to put the Rams ahead, it was Nathaniel Chalobah’s introduction for the Owls that changed the game, sitting in front of the Owls defence, allowing Barry Bannan to concentrate on attacking.

Rams head coach Paul Warne tried to counter the changes by taking off Thompson and Osborn. The latter did not play on Wednesday and was fresh for this game, while Thompson played 28 minutes against Swansea but was taken off after 79 minutes.

Derby did not have another chance on goal. Kenzo Goudmijn was ineffective in midfield and the game was won down the right when a cross was converted by Owls substitute Jamal Lowe.

Self-destruction? Perhaps, but with trips to Leeds United and Burnley to come next week it could get a lot worse before it gets better.

Rams right-back Kane Wilson said Sunday's defeat to Sheffield Wednesday was one of the most horrible feelings he's had in the game.

The Owls snatched a 2-1 win deep into stoppage-time, having trailed for well over half the game at Pride Park.

Wilson told BBC Radio Derby: "I feel physically sick. It’s horrible - one of the most horrible things I have been a part of in football.

"I felt like we were really good for large parts of the game, they are a good team with good players but to lose it like that hurts."

Wilson revealed veteran centre-back Curtis Nelson had addressed the players after the game, adding: "He said as defenders we have got to do better but goals change games and if we go 2-0 up we take the wind out of their sails.

"That’s not an individual thing, that’s a team thing, we have got to be better in training and it translate into the game.

"It’s tough. First half was one of the best we played in a long time. Second half we lost a bit of control. When it’s only 1-0 the anxiety starts to build."

Derby County boss Paul Warne couldn't fault his players despite going down to a last-gasp defeat at home to Sheffield Wednesday.

The Rams led for well over half the match but were ultimately stung by Jamal Lowe's stoppage-time winner for the visitors at Pride Park.

Warne told BBC Radio Derby: "Obviously it’s always about results and not the level of performance, I am disappointed on the result, I’m not on the performance in any way.

"I thought we were excellent, we created enough chances to win handsomely. However, that’s three home games on the spin now we’ve been excellent and got one point."

Derby's encouraging start to the season had been built on their home form with five victories from their opening six games at Pride Park but they're winless in their last four inside their own ground.

Some sections of the Rams support vented their frustration at the final whistle and Warne acknowledged them, adding: "I feel for the dressing room, the staff, the fans. I appreciate some people were frustrated with me at the final whistle but I don’t know what more we could do to win a football match.

"We have had plenty of chances, I’ve had members of (Sheffield Wednesday) staff , not apologising exactly, but respecting that we didn’t deserve that – I don’t think we did. We just needed that second goal."