Wayne Rooney had a clear message after Derby’s 2022 relegation, John Eustace will be hoping to go one better

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Pride Park is set to host its second final day relegation battle in four years on Saturday afternoon, as Derby County face Stoke City in the Championship.

John Eustace’s side have given themselves a real chance at survival in the last two months, picking up 20 points in the last 10 matches to put themselves two points above the drop ahead of their last match.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
16	PortsmouthPortsmouth	45	14	11	20	57	70	-13	53
17	Oxford UnitedOxford United	45	13	13	19	46	62	-16	52
18	Stoke CityStoke City	45	12	14	19	45	62	-17	50
19	DerbyDerby	45	13	10	22	48	56	-8	49
20	PrestonPreston	45	10	19	16	46	57	-11	49
21	LutonLuton	45	13	10	22	42	64	-22	49
22	Hull CityHull City	45	12	12	21	43	53	-10	48

The Rams had success at the end of the 2020/21 campaign after a 3-3 draw at home to Sheffield Wednesday kept them in the second tier, while it relegated the Owls and Rotherham United after the Millers were held by Cardiff City.

Wayne Rooney was in charge of Derby during that period, with financial problems eventually seeing the club enter administration in September 2021 before they were deducted a total of 21 points for that season.

It was a situation that all but relegated the East Midlands outfit immediately, but they fought on and took their rivals into the final weeks of the campaign. While this year’s plan is a little bit more straightforward, Eustace still has to overcome Mark Robins, someone who has had the better of him on the last four occasions.

Wayne Rooney directed some fiery words at Mel Morris following Derby County’s 2022 relegation

It was a late 1-0 defeat to QPR that relegated the Rams to League One three years ago with three games to go after that loss at a sunny Loftus Road. But, despite their financial difficulties, the team had accrued plenty of points over the course of the season.

This was one of the biggest frustrations of Rooney, as Derby picked up 55 points without those that were deducted – enough to have seen them finish 17th.

Nevertheless, this was the price that was paid for Mel Morris’ overspending, with the former owner of the club the target of the blame by the England and Manchester United legend.

Following the confirmation of the Rams’ relegation, Rooney said (via: BBC Sport): “Hopefully he doesn’t have a good night’s sleep tonight and that plays on his mind. I think he needs to have a think about it.

“Where the club’s been left, it was a complete mess. I know Mel Morris is a big Derby fan, so I’m sure he’s sat at home tonight disappointed.

“We are disappointed as we’ve done everything we can to try and not let this happen and worked extremely hard.”

He continued: “We’ve earned enough points to stay in this division next season and developed some really good, young, local players. In that sense, the future of the club looks bright. But we need to get over what’s happened.

“It’s a sad day. I’m sad, disappointed, upset, frustrated, but proud. The effort the lads and the staff have put in to try and galvanise the squad and the club, it’s been a lot of work.”

John Eustace will be looking to avoid a repeat of Derby County’s 2022 relegation

While he has not had the financial difficulties that Rooney had to contend with, Eustace did arrive at Pride Park to a team that were down on their luck with relegation looking a near-certainty.

However, two months later, Derby are a club reborn under the leadership of their former defensive midfielder and if they are to go down, they will only do so fighting.

Leaders will be needed against Stoke this weekend, something that Rooney had plenty of in his team during the 2021/22 campaign – including Curtis Davies, who picked up an EFL Award on Sunday.

Defensive strength has also been a major part of this revival, and the Rams will be hoping that they can carry this through to the final day, while Jerry Yates will be hoping to end his loan spell with another strike, to add to the 10 goals that he already has.

There is pressure on Derby this weekend, but if they can keep their cool and pick up a victory to confirm their survival, then Eustace will only help continue the legacy that current owner David Clowes has created.