3/1 To Win
Derby County were forced to settle for a point by Preston North End, who struck a last-gasp equaliser to steal a point at Pride Park Stadium.
Matěj Vydra’s first goal since October had Steve McClaren’s side well on course to secure a second win in four days, but their inability to score a second goal over the second half left the door ajar for the Lilywhites to find a way back.
They did so deep into added time as Tom Barkhuizen beat Scott Carson to a long ball forward, with Preston throwing caution to the wind, to earn a point for his side.
Derby had their chances to score on a number of occasions over the 90 minutes and registered more over an entertaining first half that they started brightly off the back of their 2-1 win over Barnsley on Saturday.
Vydra had his first chance of the night even before the second minute as he headed over Cyrus Christie’s range from point blank range.
McClaren’s men should have been ahead, but Jordan Hugill passed up a similar chance himself to take the lead as the forward glanced a right-wing cross from Paul Gallagher fractionally wide.
Chris Maxwell, the Lilywhites’ shot stopper, was forced into his first save of the evening, routinely denying Christie’s long range effort, before he could only watch as Johnny Russell launched a shot from the right that looped off a defender and just past his far post.
Vydra’s second clear chance of the evening came after the half hour mark as he lashed at firm left foot drive that whistled over the crossbar, as Maxwell scampered across his goal to get to the effort.
Preston did, however, remain a threat on the counter attack and they even had the ball in the back of the net in between the two aforementioned chances, but Callum Robinson’s close range header was chalked off by the linesman after he was adjudged to have been offside.
Simon Grayson’s side finished the half the stronger as the first 45 minutes petered out, but the Rams didn’t allow them to build on their momentum in the early stages of the second half as they deservedly made the breakthrough.
It was also a case of third time lucky for Vydra, who scored his first goal since the beginning of October.
Nugent, facing his former club, was the chief architect of the move as he weaved his way into the area, crafting enough space to get a shot in at goal. It didn’t make its way through as intended and, instead, deflected nicely into the path of Vydra, who tucked his half volley into the back of the net.
There was nearly an immediate second. Christie, a constant menace down the right, found himself with plenty of space on the flank, put his boot on the ball, and whipped a dangerous ball into the area, which just evaded the outstretched right foot of Nugent at the far post.
Clear chances were rare after that and Derby were unable to find the second goal that they desperately needed for vital breathing space.
It ended up costing them too.
With 10 minutes of the contest remaining, the visitors piled on the pressure and McClaren’s men found it increasingly difficult to push themselves forward as they lived on a knife edge.
Christie was forced to clear a Paul Huntington header off the line as tension began to set in around Pride Park, whilst Chris Baird threw himself in the way of Daryl Horgan’s shot into the early stages of added time.
It looked to have been enough, but with one last throw of the dice, Preston got their equaliser as Barkhuizen raced on to Maxwell's punt forward, beat on the onrushing Carson to the loose ball and poked it goalwards, applying enough on his shot that Baird could not get back to clear it as it found the back of the net and denied the Rams a second straight victory.
Derby County: Carson, Christie, Baird, Pearce (C), Olsson; Butterfield, Johnson (Bryson, 90); Russell, Vydra (Camara, 73), Ince; Nugent (Bent, 81)
Substitutes not used: Mitchell, Anya, De Sart, Hughes
Preston North End: Maxwell, Cunningham, Pearson, Clarke (C), Gallagher (Johnson, 73), McGeady, Huntington, Boyle, Hugill (Makienok, 79), Barkhuizen, Robinson (Horgan, 62)
Substitutes not used: Lindegaard, Browne, Spurr, May
Attendance: 26,301 (435 away supporters)
