A genuine buzz ever since the draw was made. Pride Park full to capacity. ‘The Special One’, (or is it ‘The Happy One’?) prowling the touchline. The perfect cup-tie in many ways, apart from the fact it didn’t follow the Hollywood script.

Instead, the Rams found themselves with many new admirers but ultimately out of the competition as the Londoners’ class and deep pockets eventually shone through.

Pre-kick off, the sort of scenes that bring the hairs on your neck to attention. A full stadium, the vast majority of which, held their black and white proudly and defiantly up to the watching world.

Sadly, this was about as vociferous as the atmosphere got all afternoon, with the South East corner often and logically drowned out by 5,500 cockneys. My chosen vantage point of the Gordon Guthrie threatened the odd song but given the magnitude of the game and also the fact that I cannot stand messers Terry, Cole and the like, I was left a little disappointed. The same can’t be said with the performance of the players, who gave everything against top-class opposition.

With the newly permanently signed Dawkins coming in for Johnny, ‘I get a serious injury and the ref never even gives a foul’ Russell and Jeff Hendrick for the unfortunate Bryson, we set about taking them on from the off.

For Chelsea, Jose was taking us seriously with the likes of Oscar, Cole and Will.i.am chosen in the first eleven.

The first few minutes threatened a long afternoon for the iPro faithful as a blue wave looked to exploit a nervous looking Rams. Finally we settled, with Buxton rallying his troops manfully from the back.

Indeed, it was Derby who had me out of my seat with the first chance of the game. Forsyth’s ball in from the back was inches away from Ward’s outstretched boot with any touch surely bringing a goal.

Quickly though, the game settled into a pattern of controlled Chelsea possession and a hard working team in white, looking to play on the counter.

If ever Craig Bryson was needed to produce some lung bursting, box to box runs, this was it. Hendrick instead battled manfully in his absence, with Hughes also looking to play his football despite constant lack of time on the ball. The shining light however was Martin, who provided excellent hold-up play time and again gave the back four an outlet (and a rest!).

It was proving a pleasure though to marvel at Oscar in particular conjure things from nothing, which pockets of space opening up as if my magic. On a couple of occasions, we looked stretched out wide, but a combination of poor delivery and great defending saw us keep the blue tide at bay.

We were restricting Chelsea to shots from range, with Ramires coming within a lick of paint from scoring before Oscar exchanged passes with the lead singer of the Black Eyed Peas before shooting into the North Stand.

At the other end, our best chances were arguably to come from set-pieces, making our failure to get corners over the first defender infuriating.

As the half neared its end, Chelsea was unfortunate not to go in front, with Ramires’ shot deflecting off Hendrick onto the foot of Grant’s right hand post. However, half-time still brought dreams of a famous win, with our play limited but spirited.

In games such as this, you always feel the first goal is to be crucial. For the first ten minutes of the second period, it looked as if the Rams could just snatch it.

A charging run by Wisdom brought a corner, which was once again awful from Ward. He fared a little better with our best chance, firing a free-kick over from the edge of the box after Hughes was fouled.

Suddenly, you felt belief, on and off the pitch, was building. We weren’t containing the Europa League winners now, we were competing with them. The Special One sensed this too, and soon, the Hazard lights were flashing in Derby’s mirror, with Edin replacing Essien. The game was then marred by a disgusting dive in the box by Ramires, who was rightly booked by referee Mariner.

Jose then decided to give us a chance and brought on Torres, much to the delight of the fans, with ‘what a waste of money’ echoing around the stands. One felt that the game hung on a moment of brilliance, luck or stupidity.

Sure enough, after more good defending from the Rams, Ward inexplicably having got back goal-side, shoved Hazard to the turf and in doing so conceded a needless free-kick in a promising position.

A whipped in piece of quality later, followed by a flick from Mikel, of all people, and we were one behind.

Credit to McClaren once again though, showing positive intent by immediately bringing on Bennett for Ward (who again looked a man short of confidence) and Sammon for Eustace.

The Irishman somewhat surprisingly occupied a wide-left berth, which Dawkins switching to play more centrally. Bennett was positive from the off, leaving Cole knowing that he would have a game on his hands in the last quarter with a mazy run to announce his arrival.

Disappointingly, the referee got in the way of his pass back towards Keane and the Blues sprung a counter. Winning a throw, the ball found the irrepressible Oscar, who unleashed a fierce drive that squirmed past Grant and into the net.

Two down and the score line almost took a flattering reflection in favour of the visitors as Torres skipped past Buxton and around Grant.

Thankfully, this was Torres and Grant was able to nick the ball away at the last moment. The Derby stopper also made a fine stop to deny the Spaniard after being played in once again while a Ramires shot deflected off the top of the crossbar as the Rams were helpless to contain arguably the best attacking trio of midfielders in Europe.

This wasn’t all one way traffic though with Bennett looking extremely confident and lively. McClaren then sprung a late surprise and introduced someone called James Bailey into the fray.

Sammon too was looking determined and his strength saw off Cahill before playing in Martin. The big man’s snapshot was angled across goal and forced Schwarzer into a sharp stop.

As the crowd sensed a grandstand finish, Bennett stabbed just wide as the Rams showed great resolve and spirit in the closing stages.

In the end though, as the Special One and Jose exchanged a hug on the touchline, Chelsea had not read the script and did enough to ensure that the Rams left the competition with plaudits but ultimately no goals.

All in all, an enjoyable game without pressure but plenty of positives when you consider the grander scheme of things.

Bennett in particular has done himself no harm in pushing his claim to start in the big one on Friday. New boy Bamford will be available and Bryson will hopefully return from injury so there are certainly options available.

With the razzmatazz of Chelsea is out of the way, the real work starts again. Another certainty is that the boys will travel to the King Power (awful name!) in high spirits.

It’s about time we won there.

Weston’s Player Ratings:

Lee Grant: Perhaps could have done more with the second but made two great stops to deny Torres - 6

Craig Forsyth: Another solid showing for our most improved player - 6

Andre Wisdom: Dealt well with Will.I.Am and Hazard. Will be hoping to play the same players for Liverpool next season - 6

Jake Buxton: Looked to be loving every second of battling Etoo and then Torres. Never shirked a tackle. A warrior! - 7

Michael Keane: Good once again, needs to back himself more on the ball though. Hesitant when coming forwards - 6

Jeff Hedrick Put himself around well and didn’t shy away from playing against high class opposition. Passed well - 6

John Eustace: Was skipped past a couple of times but it’s hard to be critical - 6

Will Hughes: Did ok with the prying eyes of the television audience on him due to the over-hype of silly season - 6

Jamie Ward: Disappointing again. If he wasn’t doing corner practice this morning there is something definitely amiss!! - 5

Simon Dawkins: Little chance to show his pace and trickery - 6

Chris Martin: Looked fantastic first half, faded in the second. Brilliant lone-striker play at times. Gave Cahill and Sideshow Bob a tough game - 7

Subs

Mason Bennett: Fantastic second half cameo. Energetic, skilfull, peaceful. Gave Cashley a real headache. Maybe has earnt himself a start on Friday - 8

Connor Sammon: A more honest player you will never find. Never shies away and always give 100 percent. Lively — 6

James Bailey Last seen cleaning cars somewhere in Coventry before coming on. Great to have him back, personally I rate him - 6

Match Reaction:

We said - Derby Head Coach Steve McClaren:

“It was a great learning curve and we knew it would be. We have just played one of the best teams in Europe and they showed us respect with the team they picked. I am proud of the players; we just said in the dressing room how proud we all are of each other.”

“The result was the only disappointment but we’ll dust ourselves down and go again in our league campaign for the rest of the season. I think it was a bit of a taste of what life is like at the top level for our lads.”

They said — Chelsea Manager Jose Mourinho

“The game was difficult, but we got the job done against a good Championship team. The players respected their opponent; they played seriously from minute one. We didn't need a second game.”

“He is doing a very good job, improving the side a lot, they have a good side and they can fight for promotion. I hope next season I can come here not in the Cup, but in the Premier League.”

Match Info / Stats / Teams:

Ref: Andre Marriner

Crowd: 32,110

Possession: Derby 48% - Chelsea 52%

Shots (On Target): Derby 16 (4) — Chelsea 17 (3)

Corners: Derby 7 — Chelsea 7

Fouls: Derby 8 — Chelsea 8

Derby County: Grant, Wisdom, Buxton, Keane, Forsyth, Eustace (Bennett 70'), Hughes, Hendrick, Dawkins (Bailey 82'), Ward (Sammon 70'), Martin.

Chelsea: Schwarzer; Azpilicueta, Cahill, D Luiz, Cole; Essien (Hazard 55'), Mikel; Ramires, Oscar (Baker 87'), Willian; Eto'o (Torres 64')

Goals: Mikel 66', Oscar 71'

Match Video Highlights / Reaction:

Photo: Action Images

Derby County Polls