Having ended their losing streak with a draw at Crystal Palace, The Rams had a full week to prepare for Bristol City’s visit to Derby.

The games against Brighton and Palace had demonstrated Derby’s lack of finishing power as the manager bemoaned the absence of his three key forwards - Davies, Robinson and Tyson.

Spurning a hatful of chances in losing to Brighton and being unable to turn their second-half dominance at Palace into a win meant Derby took just 1 point from those 6 available.

Lies, damn lies and statistics, as the saying goes; it’s little use for the club to recount allegedly having 39 goal attempts in the last two games if all there is to show for it is an own goal scored for us and just that one Championship point!

Recent poor form had seen the Rams take just 7 points from an available 36 - so a win (or two) from games coming up against bottom-half teams Bristol City and Ipswich Town were essential. Derby had the chance to reverse their slip from 3rd to 15th in the Championship table.

Manager Nigel Clough corrected the wayward Twitterings of Rams’ forward Steve Davies, who had declared to the social network in midweek that he expected to return to action against Bristol City, aided by a face-mask, following his absence with a fractured skull.

Clough declared that any such comments were premature because Davies has yet to be given the all-clear to play by the surgeons.

Davies clearly hoped to make a comeback earlier than anticipated, whilst never-present Nathan Tyson’s return to first-team training was been put back yet again - though it was expected that he’d be joining in training at the start of next week.

CEO Tom Glick, who usually keeps his head down when the team is struggling for points and results, resurfaced to declare that the progress of the Rams’ Academy would see DCFC being ‘the midlands’ Academy of choice’ for aspiring youngsters and their parents in which to place trust for their future in the game.

It’s clear that Derby’s current Academy regime is producing results, as well as the manager’s hand being forced in promoting Academy graduates to the first teal pool early due to injuries and budget restrictions.

I’m not sure we’d truly be the club of choice in the region, however, as there’s Villa, Stoke and Wolves that can offer boys a Premier League future, plus Leicester that are looking more like promotion contenders from the Championship.

Some related good news emerged on the eve of Derby’s Saturday home game when it was announced that young Irish midfielder Jeff Hendrick had penned a new deal that secures his Derby future until summer 2015. Academy graduate Hendrick is already looking like a calm and constructive influence in Derby’s midfield - and he acquired cult status by scoring a wonderful winning goal at Nothingham Forest in September.

Special ‘get well soon’ and Happy Christmas wishes go to Rams’ stalwart Gordon Guthrie from all the RZ team. Gordon, who recently received an MBE for his services to football, has been sidelined with illness and has been absent from his Moor Farm duties.

He’s been a Derby County ‘fixture’ for those five decades under every manager in that period and is missed by staff and players, who look forward to his return as soon as possible.

Derby’s poor run of 12 games without a ‘clean sheet’ and 6 games without a win has seen their early promotion aspirations replaced by worries of a prolonged slide into the relegation zone.

The Rams therefore aimed to get their faltering home form back on course with the visit of improving Bristol City on Saturday. With the Christmas fixtures at Pride Park Stadium bringing promotion contenders DirtyLeeds and West Ham to Derby there was a pressing need to secure some more Championship points after three home defeats on the bounce.

Manager Nigel Clough kept the same team that held Crystal Palace to a draw last week and the 24,000-strong pre-Yuletide crowd hoped for goals and points to cheer them on a cold grey December afternoon.

It was the customary huff and puff from Derby during a mediocre first half; no shot on target was recorded from them until the 50th minute; earlier, Frank Fielding had to move smartly to foil first Woolford then Maynard from giving the Robins a lead.

Frankie was prickly in interview this week when in receipt of implied criticism about his recent performances - though he has been culpable in some of the goals given away, as crass defending and deflections don’t tell the whole story.

Rams fans were grateful that Fielding’s sharpness had returned on Saturday and would acknowledge that Derby could otherwise have been losing the game at the interval. Muted grumbles from the home crowd nevertheless accompanied the referee’s half-time whistle.

Though Bryson worked hard and Ward almost wriggled through City’s defence on a few occasions, Derby had a lack of muscle and focus in attack. Priskin was well marshalled with little support in the middle and we again saw poor deliveries from Ben Davies.

Groans and frustrations now rise from the crowd as Ben's awaited ‘danger balls’ fly randomly around inaccurately of limply bounce off defenders; Ben has lost his mojo for the moment. It all looked like the manager might be telling us the same old hard luck stories about honest performances and might-have-beens at five o’clock. It had been distinctly average, forgettable fayre.

Actually, the Rams went through the whole match without winning a corner and had fewer attempts on goal than the Robins - but goals and points are the only statistics that matter and Derby thankfully managed to secure them, after again presumably being told by the manager at the break to get on their game in the second half.

After the interval, things initially looked to be getting worse as City broke incisively from a spell of Derby possession to take the lead; a swift move cut open Derby’s back line and Woolford struck in Bristol’s goal after 50 minutes. It looked gloomy for Derby’s prospects and the crowd needed a lift.

Relief came within five minutes, when Jamie Ward took off on one of his customary bursts down the left wing. He burrowed inbetween two City defenders and delivered the ball across ‘the corridor of uncertainty’ - and Craig Bryson tapped home the ball from almost under the crossbar.

Better still, Derby took a surprise lead only 8 minutes later. Derby’s new ‘wrecking ball’ took centre stage to claim the crucial goal! Another Rams attack looked to have been thwarted when Bryson’s shot was blocked but the ball broke to Callum Ball.

The three-time Reserve Player of the Year notched his first senior goal, as Robins’ keeper David James could only knock Callum’s well-struck shot partially away, to watch it cascade over him and into the net.

At a stroke, Callum did what other Rams’ forwards couldn’t do recently; he scored a winning goal as he demolished City’s well-constructed defence and brought them down to earth.

Ball had an energising effect on the attack, showing more ability to control the ball, hold off defenders and bring others into play than anyone else tried in that key role this season. Though over 6ft tall, Callum isn’t heavily built but if he can add in a bit more physicality as he matures, he could prove to be the effective centre-forward of which the club is in desperate need.

The winning goal was a deserved reward for Callum’s honest effort this season; on Saturday, substitutes Mason Bennett and Ball had posed more threat than Priskin and Davies whom they had replaced and a welcome home win was now within Derby’s reach.

There were some nervous moments in the remaining minutes but the Rams held out to break their losing home sequence and improve their position in the Championship to 14th place.

Bristol City no doubt kicked themselves afterwards for spurning the chance to win points; They had firepower in Woolford and Maynard but Ward was Derby’s catalyst along with Bryson’s spirit and energy, with the young substitutes then showing more senior players how to turn the game their way.

Manager Nigel Clough was pleased with the character shown by his players and happy that the losing home streak had been ended, though he seemed to underplay the impact that Mason Bennett had on proceedings whilst understandably praising Callum Ball’s achievements.

Clough must now rediscover methods of getting his squad to perform at a high level for 90 minutes of a game; it’s not always going to be sufficient for them just to improve after the break, following a disappointing first period to secure a result against the odds or to recover a negative situation.

The Rams travel to struggling Ipswich Town next Saturday and will hope to build on the last two results. The Tractor Boys annoyingly won 5-3 at Barnsley on Saturday, after registering a run of 7 straight defeats.

Ex-Rams boss Paul Jewell is repeating his morbidly mediocre influence at Portman Road, having become a specialist in losing runs when manager of Derby in that annus horribilis he inflicted upon us in 2007. Here’s hoping that the Rams can go there next Saturday and put him out of his misery!

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In RamsWeek 50 last season, the question was: ‘which came first - the egg or the hen’, as fans reflected on the team’s slipping form and the paucity of the Derby squad. Loanees propped up the team and the future could not be built on this basis - transfer action was expected in January.

Loan centre-forward Shefki Kuqi - now being wasted on the sub’s bench - would shortly return to his parent club; WBA’s Luke Moore was on loan only until the New Year. Chris Porter remained on the treatment table and top scorer Kris Commons’ new contract hadn’t yet been agreed, despite the ‘it’s progressing well’ spin from the boardroom.

The Rams went to Ashton Gate and lost to Bristol City in controversial circumstances. Through crass refereeing, Robins’ goalkeeper David James was not dismissed when hauling down Kris Commons at the point he was about to give the Rams a goal lead.

City stayed intact and their 11 men gained the upper hand, scored twice after the interval and claimed the points.

The Rams had lost four out of the last five games, their good run at an end - and they also now knew that they would face Crawley Town away in the third round of the FA Cup in January…

Photo: Action Images

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