After the thrilling 3-0 victory over Championship leaders Newcastle United and a cruel last-minute FA Cup exit at the hands of Premier League Birmingham City, Derby County had two vital home league matches to play.

Having done so well against the leading sides in the Championship, the Rams’ immediate task was to take points off other teams and put distance between themselves and the relegation zone.

The first news of the week was disappointing; Jay McEveley got himself involved in a fracas in a Derby night club last weekend and was detained by police before being released on bail. It was not the sort of headline the club wants and it would not have done McEveley too much good either, as his contract with Derby County expires in the summertime.

Jay has put in some storming performances for Derby recently, become a father and endured injury and health scare traumas in an eventful few months. Nigel Clough has helped him to resurrect his career, which (like so many others) was in tatters under Paul Jewell with the defender out of favour and farmed out on loan as superfluous to the club’s needs last season.

Derby County have dealt with the matter so far internally and McEveley went on to put in a splendid display in the Tuesday home game with Preston North End. Manager Nigel Clough was able to name an unchanged side for the 4th consecutive game and looked towards the same commitment and performance seen in the last month.

The Rams’ boss and the 27,000-strong crowd got exactly what they wanted as the Lilywhites were swept away in an attacking storm. Though the score was 5-3 to Derby, had it ended with the Rams notching 8 or 10 goals then Preston could not have complained - it was a tremendous display from the home side.

The Rams had 28 goal attempts and 14 corners and though Preston’s new manager Darren Ferguson criticised his side’s defending, Derby’s attacking play was irresistible.

There was some loose defending by both sides and Preston grabbed an early lead before an own goal (as Paul Green forced the ball goalwards twice) pulled the Rams level. The 1-1 half-time scoreline was very poor reward for Derby’s relentless, enterprising play. The Rams had won corner after corner and Preston keeper Andy Lonergan was certainly earning his pay.

He saved from Commons, then touched a McEveley cross-shot onto the woodwork and watched Pearson somehow squander a gilt-edged chance provided by Nicky Hunt. The Rams’ defence still had to clear a Preston effort off the line as the first half ended.

In a livewire display that might have been his best so far in a Derby shirt, Kris Commons cracked in Derby’s 2nd goal at the start of the second half, after Lonergan could only parry a goal-bound effort. The Rams set about securing the game but had a brief setback as Sedgewick levelled for Preston after an hour.

Rob Hulse then took over - having risen from his sick bed shortly before the game, to put in a classic centre-forward performance. He scored two goals, his first being a stylish chest and volley to deflate North End, then Barker guided a far-post header home for Derby’s 4th goal. Hulse soon rammed in Derby’s fifth and his 10th of the season when Lonergan failed to clear the ball under pressure.

Rob was nevertheless served atrociously by the officials, who seemed to think that all the grabbing and wrestling from the beleaguered Lilywhite’s centre halves was acceptable; utterly inconsistent officialdom, again.

Preston notched a third goal in stoppage time but they were well beaten as Derby achieved their aim, striding to 7 points from the bottom zone and rising to 12th in the Championship table. More of the same against Swansea on Saturday would be just great!

The Rams’ reserves won 1-0 at Macclesfield Town, Calum Ball scoring the winner. Lee Hendrie, Chris Porter and Lee Croft achieved some valuable match-time on the road to full fitness, whilst newcomers Dave Martin, Russell Anderson and Javan Vidal all played a part too. Young goalkeeper Ross Atkins has been loaned out to Blue Square Premier side Kidderminster Harriers.

Ex-Ram Giles Barnes had his first outing in West Bromwich Albion colours in their reserve game with Port Vale. Albion fans - like Rams supporters - will remember Barnes best for delivering the killer pass to Stephen Pearson in the 2007 Wembley Championship play-off final as Derby defeated the Baggies, who will be hoping he can be as effective in an Albion first team shirt. Don’t hold your breath, guys!

Contract hopefuls Gary Teale and Jay McEveley have been told that contract negotiations regarding their expiring deals with the Rams will be attended at the end of the season. Whilst Clough has managed to get the best out of the Davies’ signings that Paul Jewell discarded and sent out on loan, it indicates that Clough may be looking beyond the pair in his plans for 2010-11.

They no doubt enjoy Premier League terms - though until Clough’s arrival did not merit regular selection or show an adequate performance level in either Premier League or Championship.

Nigel Clough finally succeeded in securing the loan services of Arsenal forward Gilles Sunu on Friday afternoon and the young Frenchman, almost 19 years of age immediately travelled to Derby, only meeting his new teammates on the morning of the home game with Swansea City.

The home game on Saturday was the last of four consecutive matches for the Rams at Pride Park Stadium. Subsequent to the January victory over Nothingham Forest, Derby had defeated Doncaster Rovers in the FA Cup, scalped Championship leaders Newcastle United 3-0 to end a long unbeaten run for another of the Championship’s promotion contenders; they lost narrowly to Brum in the FA Cup and then thrashed Preston North End.

Valuable points have been won against the odds, returning players played themselves back to fitness and manager Nigel Clough reaped the benefits of greater consistency in team selection. The manager named an unchanged side once more and reminded his players to build on their fine recent performances against good opposition.

It was a bumper 31,000 crowd but not a bumper Rams’ performance; Swansea spoiled the run by nicking a 1-0 win and damping down the fire that Derby had kept burning over the past few weeks.

It was another spirited Derby display lacking nothing in guts and commitment but Derby didn’t have the guile, creativity or penetration to topple the high-flying Swans in the way they had briskly disposed of the Trees, Geordies and Lilywhites.

Robbie Savage, Paul Green and Stephen Pearson showed all the energy and endeavour evident in the last few games but Swansea had Nathan Dyer, who created more danger by himself; the Swans are a hardworking, well organised outfit that look a good bet for the play-offs.

It was a game of few chances spoiled by a bobbly, unpredictable surface that has been ravaged by the winter. Poor approach play and weak finishing by Derby and sturdy defending from the Welsh side ensured that Swansea suffered nothing like the pasting that Derby inflicted on Preston on Tuesday. The enterprise, pressure and goal threat from recent Rams’ displays was missing.

An early turning point was the loss of Kris Commons early on to a hamstring pull; Clough will be praying that the productive partnership of Commons and Rob Hulse is not disrupted for long. Gilles Sunu deputised for an hour (being substituted himself for Chris Porter well into the second half).

Sunu had not even met his teammates, let alone trained with them until Saturday, and could not provide the cutting edge to unsettle an organised and determined Swansea defence.

A dour first period was contrasted by a more furious second half which saw dismissals for both teams. Jay McEveley collected two yellow cards for fouls, then gave and angry, demonstrative reaction to his 65th-minute red card. Swansea took the lead from the resultant free kick - Derby’s defence fell asleep at the far post as Shefki Kuqi nodded the ball home.

Soon after, Swans’ substitute Gorka Pintado sailed two-footed into Robbie Savage from behind as the Welshman collected the ball deep in his own half. It was a crazy challenge and sparked an ugly melee near the corner flag, which saw two dozen tempers raised to boiling point in ten seconds flat.

Order was restored and Swansea saw out the game, keeping Derby at arm’s length apart from Michael Tonge being denied a spectacular goal from a well-struck free kick right near the end. His fierce drive slammed against the bar before being helped on to safety. Close, but no cigar.

Savage resumed his on-air spat with Radio Derby’s Colin Gibson after the game. Gibbo was concerned that the Rams, already subject to FA charges for the set-to’s at the City Ground and Pride Park Stadium against Nothingham Forest, could be poorly viewed again by the authorities and that the melee might be adjudged as incitement and another loss of control by the players.

The Rams’ captain (apart from needlessly swearing) chastised Gibson for not being fully supportive of the club - wrongly disregarding the station’s obligation to describe and consider matchday events and interpret possible consequences.

Chastising Gibson for not having played the game and declaring that the one-for-all and all-for-one mentality of a battling squad was all-important is a one-sided, myopic view.

Not great public relations on the club’s behalf again, Robbie! He enjoys the limelight and the challenge of reviving Derby County and has had a new lease of life under Nigel Clough. Sav has been leading by example on the pitch with prodigious recent performances though can be over-zealous in justifying the new-found tenacity of Derby’s team-spirit.

You’re the captain of your ship Robbie - just don’t be tempted to let it border on piracy! Recent media outbursts are certainly borne of a fierce dedication and determination to lead the Rams toward better times but they do tend to deny objective opinion or acknowledge the possible consequences of controversial situations in which the club find themselves.

There was the a hostile public reaction to Derby’s spiral of decline at the end of 2009 with fans and media questioning the togetherness of the staff and squad - and now the spotlight is again being trained on the club after repeated on-field fracas, when tempers fray if sparked by an incident.

Saturday’s incident took place adjacent to the travelling fans and could have provoked a crowd reaction. Also, it’s reasonable for us to assert that had families with small youngsters been in the seating close to the fracas - children perhaps even seeing their first football match - it would have been an intimidating, even frightening sight to see the two teams plus management and coaching staff rushing en masse to the corner, to then push and pull each other around threateningly.

No-one’s arguing that Pintado’s rash challenge on Savage wasn’t fully deserving of a red card, a ban and stern condemnation - but a failure to control your players brings penalties, as the Rams have already learned.

No-one was booked for participation in the melee but that does not discount a damaging referee’s report or the FA taking an interest in Derby’s fiery reaction to yet another feisty incident.

The Rams have a week to settle their fevered brows and regroup before facing another of the Championship front-runners when they visit West Bromwich Albion.

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RamsWeek 8 last year saw Derby County ‘walking on sunshine’ as they stuffed Blackpool 4-1 at Pride Park Stadium in midweek and then went to the City Ground, Nothingham and drubbed Billy Davies’ relegation-haunted Tricky Trees 3-1.

The Blackpool game showed the progress Clough had made, overturning a sloppy 3-2 defeat that Derby had suffered the previous autumn under Paul Jewell. Though suffering early injuries to Teale and Addison, the Rams overcame the disruptions to win comfortably.

Kris Commons had given the Rams an early lead but the Tangerines levelled before the break. It took time to break Blackpool’s resistance but a piece of magic by Commons opened the floodgates. Kris beat two men and blasted the ball in to restore Derby’s advantage and then the Hulse-Commons combo fed Paul Green to score the third.

Nacer Barazite added a late flourish with a classy surging run and shot to score his first goal for Derby.

That game was just a prelude to the delights of an emphatic win at Forest, Nyatanga scoring for Derby before the Trees could catch their breath from a Kris Commons free kick as the Rams went on to dominate the proceedings.

They scored again right after half time as Robbie Savage crossed for Rob Hulse to score. Steve Davies made it 3-0 from the penalty spot with 20 minutes remaining as Trees fans watched morbidly, left the ground in embarrassment or chose to throw missiles at Rams’ keeper Stephen Bywater.

Rams’ flop Earnshaw scored a consolation for the Trees with 4 minutes to go before Robbie Savage entertained the away end with a natty scarf-twirling technique in the post-match celebrations, which seemed to reflect his pleasure at inflicting Forest’s second home defeat within a month.

It had been a good spell for Derby with several memorable games, valuable Championship points and the East Midlands’ bragging rights (and the Brian Clough Trophy) securely installed at Pride Park Stadium!

Photo: Action Images

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