Burnley
Blackburn Rovers
Coventry City
Derby County
Leeds United
Luton Town
Middlesbrough
Millwall
Norwich City
Portsmouth
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield United
QPR
The action in the Championship got underway last night at Pride Park, with Derby County and Bristol City playing out a 1-1 draw, leaving one manager far more pleased than the other.
After back-to-back defeats in the first two games, Derby County were in desperate need of putting some points on the board this weekend, and they duly delivered.
With ten new Derby signings this summer, expectations were high for John Eustace’s team going into the new campaign, but the Rams haven’t quite lived up to that just yet.
In a tight game on Friday night, it was Bristol City who struck first thanks to another fine goal from Scott Twine, but Derby clinched an equaliser late on through new signing Carlton Morris.
What John Eustace said after Derby County 1-1 Bristol City
Speaking after the game, Eustace was clearly happy with his team’s efforts and the result, despite not getting all three points.
He said: “It’s about the squad, it’s about 46 games, not three games, and we’re delighted to get a point. We would have liked all three. I don’t think Bristol caused us any problems at all, apart from the free-kick at the end and their goal, which could have been stopped.
“So the first half an hour is really positive. When you’ve lost two games in a row and you go a goal down, it’s always difficult from a confidence point of view, but this group we never give up, they’ll keep going, and it’s a really good thing to have.”
The fact that Bristol City didn’t have Derby worried will surely be of concern to Gerhard Struber, who saw his side drop points again this weekend.
Eustace added: “I thought first half an hour, I thought we were excellent. I think we have to remember that we’re off the back of two defeats, which isn’t easy, and then when you go a goal down, you know it’s always going to be very difficult.
“For the last 15 minutes of the first half, we lost our way a little bit, which is understandable. Then second half, they frustrated us, and I thought the changes we made were all very positive, and we deserved at least a point out of the game.”
The result pushes Bristol City up to fourth place in the Championship table, while Derby are now off the mark and leave five more teams below them still searching for their first point heading into Saturday’s games.
Derby County need more time to get into their rhythm
It’s been such a busy summer for Derby, with lots of positive additions to John Eustace’s squad. Most of those players have come from his previous club Blackburn Rovers, admittedly, but there still needs to be some time to adjust and get those players to fit into what he’s building at Derby.
The fact that Carlton Morris now has three goals in three league games should not be ignored, and his output could and should be key to what the Rams achieve this season.
Once everything clicks, we’re confident Derby will be up there pushing for a play-off spot, and they could be a real dark horse this season.
We backed them in our Championship preview for 2025/26 to be a team to watch, and they proved last night that they have the resilience to grind out results. Give it a few weeks, and Derby will be in the groove, we’re sure.