Derby County bagged their first win of the Championship season as they saw off Middlesbrough at home.
The Rams have come away with a win in their second game of the season against Middlesbrough in a surprise 1-0 win, and it’s one that was certainly deserved following the devastating loss to Blackburn Rovers to kick off the Championship campaign.
Whilst Derby County may not have oozed with quality for the majority of the game, they certainly put in a compact defensive display and looked solid in spite of the injury enforced changes in the first half that saw Eiran Cashin and Kane Wilson make way for Sonny Bradley and Ryan Nyambe.
It was also an assured performance in the centre-of-the-park as the new signings in the midfield certainly lived up to expectations and provided extra assurance in sitting in front of the Derby County defence.
After what was a pivotal win to potentially get the momentum going for Paul Warne’s side, here are our player ratings vs Middlesbrough.
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Josh Vickers
A solid first-half performance that notably saw him deny Isaiah Jones in the box just before the interval with some cat-like reflexes.
Succumbed the threat of a slight Middlesbrough onslaught and certainly showed that his place in-between the sticks shouldn’t easily be given up. 8/10
Kane Wilson
Went off in the first half as a result of injury, didn’t put a foot wrong in the time he was on the turf. 6/10
Eiran Cashin
Another that had to exit the game early after what looked like quite a significant head injury at first glance.
Like Wilson, didn’t do anything to suggest that he was having a poor game, and looked comfortable at centre-half despite a poor performance against Blackburn Rovers. 6/10
Curtis Nelson
Integral at the back, Middlesbrough applied pressure, especially through Finn Azaz, however he was able to deal with the threats fairly well. 7/10
Callum Elder
A solid performance at left-back where he flew in with some committed challenges and played an important role in ensuring that the defence was more compact in comparison to the Blackburn Rovers defeat. 7/10
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Ben Osborn
One of the standouts in the first half as Derby County shut Middlesbrough out in the first half.
Was a real midfield dynamo and was able to dictate play on many occasions and did very well alongside Ozoh, a partnership that we will likely see last throughout the season. 8/10
David Ozoh
Played an important part in the centre-of-the-park and showed to be a real shrewd signing for Warne’s side. 8/10
Nathaniel Mendez-Laing
Was given far from an abundance of chances as Derby County often found themselves up against the cosh against Middlesbrough. 5/10
Kenzo Goudmijn
Didn’t quite play a significant role and was almost overshadowed by the performances of both Ozoh and Osborn, however still showed promising signs. 6/10
Kayden Jackson
A brilliantly well-taken finish past Seny Dieng in-between the sticks for Middlesbrough in the first half. 8/10
James Collins
Looked fairly solid up top and held onto the ball very well, striking a partnership with Jackson, who often looked to run off the striker. 6/10
Sonny Bradley
Given a surprise early cameo as a result of the head injury sustained by Cashin, however didn’t look out of place in defence. Managed to settle in relatively well. 7/10
Ryan Nyambe
Was a surprise exclusion from the starting 11, but came in on the 25-minute mark in place of Wilson as a result of injury and played fairly well on the right-side. 7/10
Substitutes: Sonny Bradley (7), Ryan Nyambe (7), Craig Forsyth (6), Tom Barkhuizen (6), Liam Thompson (6), Ebou Adams (6)