Derby County

Marc Webber
Final Score reporter

Image source, PA Media

The old phrase "play to the whistle" may need to be painted on to the training room walls at Derby County during this week's international break.

Saturday's 106th-minute penalty at Ipswich was the third time in August the Rams had gifted the game - or a point - to the opposition in injury time.

So the need to keep control beyond 90 minutes must be top of the learning tree for the squad who are around the training ground this week.

In the Bible, verse 13 of chapter one of Corinthians says: "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."

Derby County are certainly proving this with their charitable nature by gifting late goals to grateful opponents.

It's heartbreaking stuff for a new squad and fan base full of hope, and given faith by the owners who have bankrolled 13 new signings this season so far.

Image source, Getty Images

Rhian Brewster said Ipswich's last-gasp penalty equaliser made all Derby County's hard work at Portman Road feel worthless.

The Rams were minutes away from securing a precious first win of the Championship season, only to be denied when Jack Clarke salvaged a 2-2 draw from the spot for Ipswich in the 106th minute.

Brewster, who scored his first Derby goal to put John Eustace's side 2-1 up, told BBC Radio Derby: "We put in the hard graft for 98 or 100 minutes and to give away a pen right at the death, all the hard work feels like it wasn't worth it.

"We came here with the aim to get three points and we just felt short right at the end but we can take a lot of positives from the game.

"We're going to stick together as a team and take the positives and also the negatives to make us better.

"We're a team that's only getting better. We're all new and coming together but it does hurt because we go into every game wanting to win it, no matter who the opponent is, or whether it's home, whether it's away and we were so close, yet, so far.

"It's disappointing but we're going to take the positives and the negative and we've got two weeks to work on the training ground and we'll go again against West Brom."

Derby County head coach John Eustace spoke to BBC Radio Derby after the Rams' 2-2 draw at Ipswich Town.

"Really, really disappointed to concede [the equaliser]. I think that's a world record amount of time ever added to any game. I've never seen that amount of minutes before.

"The lads battled, worked their socks off and we deserved the three points. What an effort that was from a group of players who are going to grow throughout the season.

"I think there some really good signs for where we want to get to and I was really proud of the effort.

"We want to build something very special here. We've got some fantastic players, a fantastic squad and we want to build properly. You can see everyone is gathering speed, getting fit.

"The club have been brilliant with the signings we've made. There is lots to be happy with moving forward but we've got to keep working very, very hard the next two, three, four weeks to make sure we've got this group of players fit and ready, hungry and ready to play home and away and start getting some wins."

Dom Dietrich
BBC Radio Derby

Image source, Rex Features

A senior source at Derby County has told BBC Radio Derby all of the club's summer spending has been "entirely funded" by Clowes Developments.

It follows speculation about the source of the Rams' transfer market expenditure.

The club has spent over £13.5million on 12 players during the transfer window, while actively looking for new investors at Pride Park.

"All the expenditure in this transfer window has been funded entirely by Clowes and is absolutely in line with both the existing budget and business plan," a senior club source told BBC Radio Derby.

Ipswich Town host Derby County on Saturday (15:00 BST) with Kieran KcKenna's side still looking for their first win of the new season after a 1-0 defeat to Preston last weekend left them in 18th position in the early Championship standings.

Derby have also had a slow start to the season, though they did pick up their first point at the third time of asking last time out as they snatched a 1-1 draw at home to Bristol City.

• Ipswich Town have won each of their past two league games against Derby County and will be looking to win three in succession for the first time since April 2010 (five wins).

• Derby County have won four of their past six away league games against Ipswich Town (D1 L1), as many victories as across their 15 away matches against them between 1992 and 2014 (L11).

• Ipswich are unbeaten across their past 22 home games in the Championship (W15 D7), a run which has seen the Tractor Boys net 2.5 goals on average per fixture.

• Throughout the opening three matchdays of the 2025-26 Championship, no side has attempted fewer shots than Derby (21), whilst they've also recorded the second-fewest touches inside the opposition's penalty area (45).

• No player has recovered possession for their side more frequently in the Championship this season than Derby's Ebou Adams (21), whilst he also ranks joint-top amongst Rams players for tackles made (eight, alongside Matt Clarke).

Burnley XI: Weiss, Worrall, Edwards, Humphreys, Tchaouna, Flemming, Ramsey, Sonne, Pires, Broja, Laurent.

Subs: Hladky, Tuanzebe, Tresor, Banel, Barnes, Tweety, Delcroix, Leuluai, Pimlott.

Derby XI: Vickers, Forsyth, Osborn, Brewster, Jackson, Elder, Rooney, Ward, Sanderson, Adams, Clark.

Subs: Donnell, Wilson, Clarke, Weimann, Thompson, Goudmijn, Nyambe, Brown, Wheeldon.

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Rex Features

Derby have agreed a deal worth up to £3.5m to sign Sturm Graz defender Max Johnston.

The Rams had two earlier bids rejected but the Scotland international is now set to move to Pride Park.

The 21-year-old will sign a four-year contract to end a two-year spell in Austria, where he won the Bundesliga twice and Austrian Cup.

Johnston move to Graz from Motherwell in 2023 and has made 60 appearances, scoring twice, and featured in their 5-0 Champions League play-off defeat at Bodo/Glimt last week.

Derby have lost two and drawn one of their opening three Championship fixtures and face Burnley in the EFL Cup on Tuesday (19:45 BST).

Derby County have agreed a £3.5m deal with Austrian club Sturm Graz for Scotland right-back Max Johnston, 21, who is set to undergo a medical ahead of signing a four-year contract. (Sky Sports, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Tuesday's gossip column here.

Image source, PA Media

Derby head coach John Eustace said he was "very proud" of the way his side kept going to secure their first point of the campaign in their 1-1 draw with Bristol City.

Carlton Morris scored his third goal in as many games in the 86th minute to rescue a draw for the Rams and put their first point on the board after two defeats.

"Very proud of the effort of the group, to keep going the way we did - big pressure at home when you've lost two in a row - the way the lads carried on and went about their business was really pleasing," Eustace told BBC Radio Derby.

"First half an hour I thought we played really well and really took the game to a really good Bristol City team. The goal then really knocks the stuffing out of us on the back of two defeats.

"At home when you go 1-0 down it can get a bit nervy but the way the lads got together at half-time, and a few little tweaks, we finished the second half much better, we were a much better team.

"There were some difficult times in that second half to keep going and do what we wanted to do but in the end we got our reward."

Glenn Speller
BBC Sport England

Blackburn Rovers midfielder Lewis Travis has almost certainly played his last game for the club, according to head coach Valerien Ismael, with BBC Radio Derby, external reporting Derby County have agreed a fee for him.

The 27-year-old has only featured once for Rovers so far this season with speculation surrounding a potential move away from Ewood Park, and he will not travel with the squad for Saturday's Championship match at Hull City (12:30 BST).

Derby County and Wrexham were both linked with Travis in June, while Ismael stated 10 days ago he could leave "if the price was right."

"There is something going on behind the scenes, but we are focusing on the game - the other thing we will talk about as soon as we can," the Blackburn boss told BBC Radio Lancashire, but he would not be drawn on a possible destination for Travis.

On whether Travis had played his last game for Rovers, Ismael added: "It looks like it but we will see what's going on."

Ismael also confirmed Todd Cantwell, who captained Rovers in Travis' absence for last weekend's 2-1 Championship defeat at home to Birmingham City, will takeover as skipper on a permanent basis.

"Todd will be the new permanent captain of the club.

"He's a player who, when I came in, we talked together, and I was pleased with how he socialised with everyone within the building.

"He's comfortable talking to the academy players, the cleaners, the board - he's a respected player and the way he speaks to people is very good."

Image source, Rex Features

Derby boss John Eustace said "it is great to be linked with good players" after it was reported the club had agreed a fee with Belgian side Lommel to sign Japanese winger Koki Saito.

Saito, 24, spent last season on loan at Queens Park Rangers before returning to Belgium in the summer.

"I think he's a player that everyone has been looking at," Eustace told BBC Radio Derby.

"We've been linked with a number of players and obviously it's great to be linked with all the good players in the Championship, and he's no different."

Meanwhile, Eustace confirmed Kemar Roofe, who was released by Derby at the end of last season, is back training with the club.

The 32-year-old has been linked with a move to Scottish club Aberdeen but Eustace hinted he is interested in re-signing the former Leeds and Rangers forward if he can prove his fitness.

"We've allowed him to carry on training and there could be an opportunity here," Eustace added.

"He's willing to train for nothing and improve his fitness. The most important thing for Roofey is he stays fit and we're giving him that opportunity to do so."

"Lars-Jargen Salvesen and Patrick Agyemang could be back with the group in the next week or so. To have both striking options back is a big boost."

Malcolm Christie is joined by Dominic Dietrich and Ed Dawes on the Rams Weekly podcast as they discuss key injury updates, whether Derby need a formation change to accommodate the players available and what might be lacking down the wings.

Listen to the full episode of Rams Weekly and more on BBC Sounds.

Derby County will look to get their first points of the season when they host Bristol City on Friday (20:00 BST).

The Rams were involved in an entertaining eight-goal thriller last time out, having led Coventry City 3-2 before the Sky Blues scored three times to take a 5-3 win.

Meanwhile, Bristol City played out a goalless stalemate with Charlton Athletic and will be aiming to maintain their unbeaten start to the season at Pride Park.

• Derby County have lost just two of their last 10 home league games against Bristol City (W5 D3), keeping clean sheets in five of those matches.

• Bristol City have won six of their last eight league games against Derby County (L2), though did lose this exact fixture 3-0 last season.

• So far this season, Derby have lost each of their two Championship matches and will be looking to avoid losing their opening three league games of a campaign at any level since 2020-21.

• Bristol City have won just two of their last 16 away league games (D7 L7), although did win away on MD1 4-1 at Sheffield United, the first time they've netted 4+ goals on their travels since December 2023.

• Amongst the 10 Championship goalkeepers to make 5+ saves this season, Bristol City's Radek Vitek holds the highest save percentage (87.5%).

Derby have made a third offer of around £2m to Austrian side Sturm Graz for Scotland international right-back Max Johnston. (Sky Sports, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Thursday's gossip column here.

Image source, Rex Features

Derby boss John Eustace confirmed new striker Rhian Brewster faces a race against time to make his Rams debut against Bristol City at Pride Park on Friday.

Brewster arrived from Sheffield United on a free transfer on 1 August but has struggled for fitness at the beginning of the campaign after missing pre-season.

"Rhian's had four sessions with the group. He's looking fitter, he played 45 minutes [for the B team] behind closed doors against Oxford," Eustace told BBC Radio Derby.

"We'll assess it on Friday, we'll see how he's feeling, we'll see what the medical department say as well.

"It's important we protect him and when he's ready, he'll be playing.

"Rhian is a top performer in the Championship. The club worked very hard over the summer to bring him in and it's been a group effort to make sure he feels at home here at Derby.

"He's going to get better throughout the season, for sure."