To use a football cliché, all of the matches left this season are mini cup finals for a place in the play-offs. Despite that, it still doesn’t quite feel like a hugely exciting time to be a Ram, which is strange considering the rewards still on offer.

The win over Forest presented a chance for Derby to get things going again by hopefully building on the victory; unfortunately it wasn’t and was followed by a poor performance at Cardiff. Then just when you thought it was all slipping away, the Rams produced Tuesday night’s incredible victory over Hull.

After that, the record under Darren Wassall stands at 5 wins, 1 draw and 4 defeats, so definitely a mixed bag. Because of those results it is more important than ever that the Rams record back to back wins with victory over Bolton. It’s time for consistency.

The fear recently has been that the season was just fizzling out and the end will be something along the same lines of how things concluded last season, when what looked like automatic promotion, self destructed to become a hugely disappointing 8th placed finish.

Unfortunately I too have had that sense of things heading on a downward spiral as the players seemingly hadn’t been up for the fight. Is it not being able to handle the pressure once again or something else, maybe the effects of a turbulent season off the field? Just looking at the squad and especially the money spent, it’s clear that things should be going better than they had been.

One obvious lesson is that money spent doesn’t automatically translate into success. It was very easy in the summer to get caught up in the excitement of it all but worth remembering that the Rams team that started the 2014 Play-Off final at Wembley was assembled for just £2.2 million.

That 2014 side with Bryson and Martin at its core is resurfacing with Bryson hitting form and Martin finding his goal scoring touch again, proving their axis works together incredibly well.

In the summer serious questions will be asked of the recruitment department, the manager’s position, outgoings and the budget for the transfer window with financial fair play more firmly in mind.

But for now there’s a chance of a top six finish which many were struggling to get excited about due to the downturn in results since the New Year. And what a difference one win can make.

The lack of confidence going into the Hull game has made the result even more pleasing. Fans needed a reminder of what Derby can do. Dare I say, the infamous, “Derby Way”?

It’s amazing what one win, a win that nobody could see coming, can do for the season but it wont mean much if it isn’t followed up successfully with victory over a struggling Bolton today.

This Championship is a crazy league, indeed the game of football altogether is. One moment it’s fans calling for Wassall’s head, the next it’s talk of him leading a revitalised Rams to Wembley. That’s football fans for you.

When looking towards the play-offs, Hull would now most definitely be an ideal opponent with the Rams now having completed the double over Steve Bruce’s side. Brighton is also a possibility and we all remember how that turned out two years ago.

It is more likely than not (without wishing to be too presumptuous in a highly unpredictable league) that Derby would finish in one of the two latter play-off places meaning the home match would be the first leg. Is it an overstated advantage playing on home soil second time around? I don’t know but it would be the much preferred option, especially if the Rams recent away form is anything to go by.

There’s an awful lot still to play for, six games remain, including the final three games against Sheffield Wednesday, Brighton and then Ipswich.

For now at least, the challenge is that Derby must prove that the victory over Hull wasn’t a one off result — starting today at the iPro.

Come on you Rams!

For more of Nathan's articles you can read his blog at www.derbycountyfan.com and follow him via @ramscorner on Twitter.

Photo: Action Images

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