Yes Leicester are big spenders and yes they are probably ready made for the Premier League but that is no excuse for the Rams poor display in a marquee top of the table clash, broadcast around the world. Not good enough!

Derby gained respect from all for their display against Chelsea last Sunday but unfortunately they will have given most back and perhaps some extra, following their insipid performance Friday night.

As a Rams fan you could try and take come consolation from the fact that the Foxes are by far and away the best team in the League and are likely to run away with the title this season. Unfortunately the hapless effort that Derby put in, is unlikely to be washed away by any such excuse as they looked a class below where they will need to be to even challenge for a top 6 place.

The Rams started with only one change being made from the Chelsea match with Bryson in for Eustace, a move I welcomed before play as it made the team look more attacking. How wrong I would be and how much I would miss the old war horse when the home team was running riot!

After the first 15 minutes where both teams traded blows, providing an entertaining spectacle, slowly but surely Leicester began to gain a stranglehold as the warning signs were plain for all to see.

The Foxes were beginning to tear the Rams apart in midfield and in turn the forward creativity of Dyer, Vary and Nugent who all had early chances, looked by far and away a class above anything the Rams had to offer.

Chances were becoming easier for the home team to create as a flat footed Derby began to look tired and devoid of the spark that had propelled them up the league.

When Dyer, who was giving the Rams a torrid time, missed an open goal after Grant could only palm the ball away, it seemed that a goal was coming unless Derby found some ticker fast.

Unfortunately no ticker was in the Rams kit bag so the inevitable came to pass when the Foxes finally put the ball in the back of the net. He started the move himself from right-back with a run that bamboozled two Rams, threw in a one-two with Nugent for good measure and finished by firing it low, easily beating Lee Grant.

From there the Foxes blew the Rams off the park and how the home side were not ahead by 4 or 5 goals at half-time was a mystery in itself. Derby did not have a single effort on target in the first half and despite some decent play in the first 10-15 minutes, never really looked like troubling the home side.

When Leicester hit the bar twice in quick succession, first from a shot on goal by Vardy from a near impossible angle and then Liam Moore smashed the ball into the cross bar by head from a corner, the writing was not just on the wall but the floor, roof and doors!

It was going to be a case of the Rams attempting to hang on till half time and hoping that Steve McClaren might have a team talk for the ages ready to break the glass on in case of such an emergency.

The Rams hung on but lord knows how as they were totally dominated in every department and on the balance of play should have been beaten by half time.

HT: 1 — 0

I don’t know about other Rams fans but I was surprised McClaren did not make any changes at half time to try and inject some life into the stagnant Rams. It seemed as if they desperately needed it but then again giving them a chance to redeem themselves in the second 45 was worth a try.

Unfortunately there was no respite for the Rams as after seeing the Foxes miss so many sitters, the home teams second was more luck than class but in all honestly if anyone deserved a slice of luck, it was the home team. When Nugent's shot was saved by Grant, only for the rebound to bounce back off his legs and into the net.

McClaren decided, like the rest of us, the team on the park had no chance and tried to inject some life into proceedings with new Chelsea loan signing Patrick Bamford and Mason Bennett, coming on for Dawkins and Ward.

There was a brief flicker of hope when Bamford got straight into the thick of it by shooting low. His effort was turned away for a corner and resulted in a Buxton header being deflected in by De Laet for an own-goal.

A slight heart beat…. but only faint. Could the Rams get pulses racing now!?

Any hope the Rams may gather momentum was snuffed out when Craig Forsyth had a brain snap after shepherding Vardy away from goal only to bring him down on the edge of the box with a poor sliding tackle. Heart breaking and pretty much as dumb as Jamie Ward’s foul that led to a goal against Chelsea, except this time it was in the box.

Nugent stepped up and converted his 8th penalty of the season.

Rams flat-line - pronounced dead.

Forsyth’s moment of madness triggered a full collapse as Nugent made it four and heaped more embarrassment on a Derby team who had hoped to regain some pride and momentum.

FT: 4 - 1

Instead it was two losses in a week and 3 on the bounce.

I haven’t talked much about the Rams players as there is little to talk about. Most were poor, some others poorer and in the case of a couple, terrible! Bryson was not himself, Hendrick started brightly but faded, Hughes is not stamping his authority on matches and Martin looks like he needs a break.

The back four did ok considering they were coping with their second onslaught in 5 days and their midfield continually opened up in front of them. Eustace was sorely missed in that covering but even at his best the Foxes would have still found a way round.

With 8 days of soul searching ahead as McClaren will attempt to bring his team out of a nose dive when they welcome Brighton next weekend.

The next few matches will determine whether Derby can genuinely push for a playoff place let alone automatic promotion.

It would be a shame to build the foundations only for the players to beat themselves. The problem seemed to be between the ears and perhaps in some heavy legs.

With so many players down, you have to wonder if fatigue is setting in and a few need a break after a gruelling festive schedule.

Perhaps fresh legs will be used next weekend, maybe some new faces will arrive or maybe Steve can just get his chargers refocussed before too match damage leaves the hard work already achieved in tatters.

Redemption may only be a week away - here's hoping!

Match Reaction:

They Said — Foxes Manager Nigel Pearson:

"Derby are a good team but we got the balance right. We worked very hard and some of our attacking play was very, very good. When they got the goal back it was important we responded as quickly as we did because if we didn't then the feel of game may have been different.”

"All in all, it's a very good day for us. When you play ahead of the rest of the programme it's always nice to take advantage of it, and we played well and deserved it."

We Said - Rams Head Coach Steve McClaren:

“Leicester, give them credit, they were better than us. They were stronger than us and full of running. We were second best all over the field. We haven’t normally been like that.”

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