3/1 To Win
Nottingham Forest are the next visitors to Pride Park Stadium as Gary Rowett gets set to take charge of his first East Midlands derby on home turf as Derby County boss.
There have been some memorable moments in recent years – so dcfc.co.uk decided to take a look back at the Rams’ last five home games against the big rivals…
2016/17 – Derby County 3-0 Nottingham Forest
Sunday 11th December 2016
Starting XI: Carson; Baird, Keogh, Pearce, Olsson; Hughes (Bryson 76’), Johnson, Butterfield; Ince (Weimann 84’), Bent (Vydra 72’), Russell.
Scorers: Bendtner (o.g.) 33’, Ince 55’, Hughes 64’
Derby went into the first derby of the season on a run of five successive wins, and they extended the run to six with a dominant performance.
Nicklas Bendtner was unlucky to open the scoring with an own goal and – incredibly – the man known as ‘Lord’ went close to notching an unfortunate brace later in the game when he hit his own post.
Tom Ince doubled the lead 10 minutes into the second half after twisting his way through the Forest penalty area, before Will Hughes’ tapped in for his first goal of the season to make it 3-0.
Derby went unbeaten for a further four games, but a loss of form scuppered the Rams’ promotion hopes, whilst Forest escaped relegation on the last day of the season – surviving thanks to a 3-0 win against Ipswich.
2015/16 – Derby County 1-0 Nottingham Forest
Saturday 19th March 2016
Starting XI: Carson; Hanson (Christie 90+2’), Keogh, Shackell (Buxton 82’), Olsson; Bryson, Thorne, Hendrick; Ince, Martin, Johnson (Russell 64’).
Scorer: Olsson 79’
Marcus Olsson’s late winner was crucial as Derby sought to open a gap in the race for the Championship play-offs.
The Swede finished sweetly with his weaker right foot for his first Derby goal to secure the three points and condemn Forest to a third game without a win.
Paul Williams’ side eventually ended their winless run at eight games, whilst Derby made it to the play-offs where they were beaten by Hull City in the semi-finals.
2014/15 – Derby County 1-2 Nottingham Forest
Saturday 17th January 2015
Starting XI: Grant; Christie, Keogh, Buxton, Forsyth; Bryson, Mascarell, Hughes (Hendrick 45’); Russell, Martin, Ward (Bent 76’).
Scorers: Derby – Lansbury (o.g.) 16’ | Forest – Assombalonga 75’, Osborn 90+2’
Stuart Pearce had guided his team to 11 games unbeaten at the start of the season but a slump in form ended any hopes of a promotion push.
Inconsistency was the theme of Forest’s season but they showed up at Pride Park to stun the Rams in stoppage time.
An own goal from Henri Lansbury gave Derby the lead from Johnny Russell’s corner and Steve McClaren’s side led for nearly an hour before Britt Assombalonga scrambled home an equaliser.
The best was yet to come for Forest as 20-year-old Ben Osborn drove forward from the halfway line and hammered his finish past Lee Grant to register his first ever senior goal and secure a shock win.
2013/14 – Derby County 5-0 Nottingham Forest
Saturday 22nd March 2014
Starting XI: Grant; Wisdom, Keogh, Buxton, Forsyth; Kendrick, Thorne, Bryson (Hughes 85’), Ward (Russell 39’); Bamford, Martin (Sammon 82’).
Scorers: Bryson 6’, 32’, 69’, Hendrick 37’, Russell 54’
Craig Bryson wrote his name into the East Midlands derby history books as the Rams trounced their bitter rivals at Pride Park.
His hat-trick was the first by a Derby player in the fixture since the legendary Steve Bloomer bagged three back in 1898, a game that finished with the same dominant scoreline.
Jeff Hendrick also got his name on the scoresheet before Johnny Russell scored a screamer, as Derby ended four games without a win to continue their charge to the play-off final.
Forest went on to finish 11th – despite sitting in the play-off places for the majority of the season – whilst the Rams went agonisingly close to the Premier League, only to be denied by QPR.
2012/13 – Derby County 1-1 Nottingham Forest
Saturday 19th January 2013
Starting XI: Legzdins; Brayford, Keogh, O’Brien, Roberts; Bryson (Jacobs 75’), Coutts, Hendrick; Hughes, Sammon, Ward (Robinson 67’).
Scorers: Derby – Ward 52’ | Forest – Cohen 31’
The last Pride Park draw between the two sides came during Forest’s turbulent 2012/13 season, where they went through four managers in just under seven months.
Steve Cotterill, Sean O’Driscoll, Alex McLeish and Billy Davies all took charge, with McLeish in the hot seat for the trip to Derby.
Chris Cohen’s opener was cancelled out by Jamie Ward, who placed into the corner after brilliant work by Conor Sammon to earn a share of the points.
Both sides ended up enduring indifferent campaigns - the Rams finishing 10th and Forest two places ahead in 8th – marking the last time that the Reds finished above Derby in the Championship table.
