Derby County

Ed Dawes
BBC Radio Derby commentator

Image source, Rex Features

Mission accomplished for Derby County. Championship survival was a must if the club was to continue the upwards trajectory put on its way by owner David Clowes in 2022.

A few weeks before the culmination of the season, wing-back Kane Wilson uttered: "It's important we don't waste the hard work done last season" by getting out of League One at the second attempt.

For me, this is the moment in time when the club can shake off its damage and rebuild culture brought on by former owner Mel Morris' decision to put it into istration.

Staying in the second tier means the club can be recognised as that Championship team, no sprinkling of sugar but a solid recipe for growth.

The story of this season has been split into two halves. Perhaps there was an underestimation of the challenges of the Championship and what was needed to finish without a relegation battle. Or perhaps there were bouts of imposter syndrome from the then head coach.

Paul Warne's achievements at Derby County will go down in the history books. At times he played exciting, attacking football, he was an infectious personality who you enjoyed being around. But did he really believe he deserved the role as Derby County head coach?

He spoke in his first media conference about how proud his father would have been that he was managing the same team as Clough and Taylor. I am not sure he thought he was worthy of that.

That run of seven straight defeats brought an end to his tenure. No manager can survive a goal drought and a lack of points. The fans had turned and they let him know.

A brave decision was made by David Clowes and chief executive Stephen Pearce to remove Warne and find an alternative. Derby were heading down without it.

Former Ram John Eustace had told me years ago during a conversation while we were watching our boys play football, that he always wanted to return to manage Derby one day. This was his moment.

Prizing him away from Blackburn took time and money and, with the Rams bottom of the table and seven points a drift on 7 March, the journey was going to be tough.

Eventually, with his coaches Matt Gardiner, Keith Downing, Paul Clements and 'football genius' Jake Buxton, the Rams showed signs of recovery. The improvement in each individual was noticeable. Suddenly the mistakes were not being made, the goals were not punishing them and they looked like they could play.

Marcus Harness said after the win at Plymouth Argyle: "Some players thrive in chaos, some thrive with structure and information."

This insight into his mindset made observers look differently at the players. All of them showed signs of confidence, creativity and understanding.

From 7 March, when the club were rock bottom and seven points adrift, Eustace's Rams took 21 points and won away from home three times. The togetherness got the Rams over the line to be able to take that next step.

But it isn't a rebuild now, it is a strengthening of the foundations laid in the past three seasons.

Derby County should be looking up now, not down, and with investment and a solid summer transfer window there is every possibility.

"A lot of people wrote off this team... but Derby weren't done for, weren't done for at all, because John Eustace has got the best out of these players.

"It took him a couple of games, three games in total; as soon as he knew what he needed to do with this group of players, we saw the transformation."

The Rams Daily team are ed by former Derby players Malcolm Christie and Eric Steele to reflect on Derby's goalless draw against Stoke City, another year in the Championship and heap praise on the head coach that secured it.

Includes interviews with boss John Eustace, captain Ebou Adams and midfielder Harrison Armstrong.

Listen to the full episode and more on the Rams Daily podcast.

Image source, Getty Images

Derby County head coach John Eustace spoke to BBC Radio Derby after the Rams secured Championship safety with a goalless draw against Stoke City.

"The job's done and that's the most important thing," he said.

"What a fantastic effort from everyone connected with the football club. The players have been outstanding every day in training they have dedicated themselves to getting to this moment and I couldn't be any more proud of them.

"The fans, home and away have been outstanding as well. During some really difficult moments no-one stopped believing and if you believe in what you are doing you always have a chance. And here we are with us still in the Championship."

Head coach John Eustace says Derby County have repeatedly defied expectations since his arrival in February.

The 45-year-old started his final pre-game press conference of the season by telling BBC Radio Derby that he felt the Rams have long been seen as relegation write-offs.

Six wins in the past 10 games, including a dramatic 1-0 victory against Hull City last week, means they can secure safety on the final day if they beat Stoke City.

"I felt like a lot of people had given up," Eustace said. "But it is still not over yet, we have one more huge game on Saturday.

"The amount of effort and work the group and the fans have put in to make sure we get to this situation has been there for everyone to see and it's important that we finish the job off."

Eustace also went to great lengths to outline a 'keep calm and carry on' approach to the season-defining showdown with the Potters.

While victory would assure Derby's safety against fellow relegation-threatened Stoke, the final-day permutations for six sides in danger of having their Championship stay ended on Saturday are exhaustively mapped out in this article.

You can listen to all that Eustace had to say to BBC Radio Derby on the latest episode of the Rams Daily podcast on BBC Sounds.

Both Derby County and Stoke City face the possibility of relegation to League One at the end of play on Saturday (12:30 BST) - but one side could ensure it definitely won't be them with a win at Pride Park.

Neither side currently sit in the bottom three but remain within striking distance of the three teams below them; Preston North End, Luton Town and Hull City.

Only one of those teams will find themselves relegated but should Preston, Luton and Hull all win their respective matches, it'll come down to an all-or-nothing dog fight between Derby and Stoke.

The Rams have the form, having won both their past two matches while Stoke have lost theirs, but it was the Potters who took victory in the reverse fixture with a narrow 2-1 win.

• Derby County are unbeaten across their last four home league games against Stoke City (W2 D2), keeping three clean sheets during that time at Pride Park.

• After winning the reverse fixture 2-1 in November last year, Stoke City will be looking to complete their first league double over Derby County since the 2006-07 campaign.

• After failing to win any of their 12 league games between December and March, Derby have since lost just two of their last 10 (W6 D2), scoring multiple times in six of those matches.

• Over the last six seasons, Stoke City have lost just one of their six Championship matches on the final day of the season (W3 D2), winning their last 4-0 against Bristol City in 2024.

• Stoke City have accumulated just 50 points across their 45 Championship matches this season (W12 D14 L19) and even a win would still give them their t lowest points tally since they were relegated from the Premier League in 2018 (53 in 2022-23).

Amelia Warren
Fan writer

I'm pretty sure I won't be the only one who still hasn't quite recovered from Saturday.

An afternoon of frustration, jangled nerves, and finally euphoria.

The away end at Hull on Saturday was something I haven't experienced from a Derby crowd since we beat Leeds away in the play-off semi-final second leg under Frank Lampard in 2019.

It was like the Derby faithful knew something was on the horizon the moment we were awarded that free-kick.

Encouraging and excitable cheers rang out from the away ers as the referee blew his whistle and signalled for the foul.

The kind of cheers you hear when your team are awarded a penalty, not a free-kick on the left flank.

But Craig Forsyth's perfect cross, Nat Philips' perfect header, and the sold out corner of Derby County ers' perfect celebrations proved we had every right to be excited.

Lifting strangers up off the ground after celebrating, hugging the person next to me who doesn't even know my name as the full-time whistle blew, screaming out chants in harmony with 2,286 others who all shared the same emotion, ion, desire, and prayers as each other for 94 minutes.

How special is football?

Image source, Getty Images

Saturday's result makes survival chances much higher for the Rams…

However, this is the Championship, and if there's any league that's guaranteed final day drama, it's this one.

Derby will have to make sure they keep their composure, execute the basics, and most importantly not let the occasion get the better of them, knowing full well that Stoke City also come to Pride Park with plenty of incentive to win the game themselves.

It's been far from easy for Derby this season, with our fate still needing to be decided on the final day reinforcing that.

But this club has kept fighting, even when we looked down and out, seven points from safety and rock bottom of the table just eight weeks ago.

What a turnaround it's been.

I've been like a kid at Christmas waiting for this game to roll around, a rocking Pride Park, high-pressure moments, these are things you live for as a fan.

As Jamie Thrasivoulou says in his 'We are Derby' poem: "We're resilience in the flesh, we've never settled for second best."

Tomorrow if we refrain from being second best, Championship football is ours again next season.

Seems simple doesn't it!

Fighters not victims, together as one, let's get the job done.

You can often catch Amelia Warren, external as a guest on BBC Radio Derby.

"If you would have said that, three or four weeks ago, Preston are going to have to go to the last day of the season to get a result, you'd be like no, no chance," former Reading midfielder Jobi McAnuff tells the 72+ podcast.

McAnuff and Aaron Paul are ed by former Barnsley manager Darrell Clarke as they discuss the Championship relegation fight and who they think is most at risk.

For McAnuff, it's Hull City and Preston North End that "are in trouble".

Hull sacked former boss Liam Rosenior after finishing seventh in the Championship last season, but have struggled since his departure and are currently sitting in the bottom three, a point away from safety.

Meanwhile, Preston are among three teams just a point above and have been dragged into the relegation fight after a winless run of seven games - and it's the Lancashire side Clarke is most concerned about.

"I just think to myself, they've dropped off a cliff, they've got Bristol City away, I fancy Hull to get something at Portsmouth," Clarke said.

"Fratton Park is a difficult place to go to... but they are on holiday aren't they">