Over the course of a season, you find yourself asking questions. What if we’d have shown up at Middlesbrough? Why did we sign Leon Best? How did we lose to Forest?

One question on my mind Tuesday night was-how on earth did we lose at the Valley in August?

Yes, Charlton are up there as one of, if very likely the worst side I’ve seen this season. In saying that, a very professional Rams display consolidated our lead at the top, on a night where we only required to be in gear for 45 minutes.

With two changes from the win over Wednesday, Shotton surprisingly came in for two-goal Buxton and Lingard less surprisingly replacing Dawkins. As it happened though, I think I could have played centre-half with little worry.

We were quick out of the blocks, showing the sort of intensity required to quickly nullify mid-table opposition. You sensed a nice early goal would settle us further and with our first shot, it came.

Good play from Thorne subsequently found Hughes. Taking a touch, Will then played a trademark reverse ball into Bent. Onside but with facing a tight angle, Darren brilliantly cut the ball back to Hendrick who had the simple task of tapping home.

What wasn’t as simple was untangling Jeff from the netting, as both Hughes and Lingard worked to rescue their team mate, although you sensed if we had ended up a man down for the duration, it wouldn’t have mattered.

Moments later it was nearly two. Good exchanges of passes down the right-hand side saw Ince cut in on his left-boot. Letting fly with an early effort, my hands were up but the ball was wide. No matter. It was two soon enough.

A fantastic pass from King George found Hendrick. Holding the ball for just the right amount of time, Jeff rolled his pass straight into the path of Lingard, who coolly steered into the far corner.

19 minutes gone. Not saying it was game over, but if I were one of the 200 or so hardy Addicks, I might have considered listening to the rest on the way back down the M1. In fact no, not if I’d paid £29…

Visibly relaxed, we were playing some excellent stuff, not just with but also without the ball. Charlton were hardly getting a kick and when they did, they found 11 bloodthirsty Rams hounding their every move-which was normally to lump it up to nobody in particular.

Another Hendrick burst saw the ball eventually break to Hughes. Benefiting from a lovely bounce and with a wave of his magic wand, Will was extremely unfortunate to see his volley whistle just wide.

There then came football to make even the most-ardent of viewer twitch in their pants, as a delightful combination between Bent, Hughes and Lingard finished with a back-heel that was just too close to the goalkeeper for a perfect finish to the move.

With the boxing referees waving this off as a no-contest long ago and just after the Charlton goalkeeper had time-wasted at 0-2 (yes, really), our visitors almost made us pay for another lapse in concentration.

This time it was Hendrick, who looked for another assist by playing the ball straight to Solly. A well-hit snapshot later and Lee Grant, who having put down his newspaper, saved well low down to his right.

Getting the taste for actually going forwards, Charlton threatened again soon after. Thorne gave away a free kick in not too dissimilar territory to where the Forest-reject scored from on Saturday. This time, Grant saved, after a fine effort from Berg-Gudmundsson had cleared the wall and arrowed towards the net.

Sparked back out of training match mode, the Rams almost had a third just before the break. More fine football saw Forsyth find Hendrick in the box. His looping effort dipped over Henderson, but came bouncing back off the bar and away. Half-time and a dominant position.

Sending ex-World Cup finals Captain Alou Diarra onto the field, seemed the bare minimum that Charlton could do to try and at least hold onto the hot potato for more than three passes. One felt that McClaren would have said to get another goal or two before conserving energy-and you did feel it was more than likely.

I would love to wax lyrical about a third, fourth or even fifth Rams goal. I would like even, to tell you, dear reader, about any goalmouth action that occurred. The truth is, the second half was, well, shall we say, as pedestrian as black and white road markings.

Content to professionally go about finishing the job, the Rams played the sort of possession football which was perfect for the situation, both short and long-term, but not great for the onlooker greedy for goals.

Arguably the best moment of the half was an attempted clearance by Forsyth which struck Lingard in the unmentionables, followed by Forsyth’s subsequent sniggering.

There were perhaps, a couple of alarms. A free-header from a lofted free-kick and a dead-ball on the edge of the box, that both amounted to nothing. Much like a fire drill though, they threatened, made a couple of people jump, but you knew they were unlikely to be of genuine concern.

The Rams switched cruise control on and saved the higher gears for more pressing outings. Dawkins replaced Lingard, before a scare for everyone as Thorne appeared to knock-knees with an opponent before limping off to be replaced by Mascarell. George later tweeted all was ok and there was no call for alarm… phew!

Finally, Bryson entered the fray for Hughes, who chalked off another game without a booking. It remains to be seen whether he can make the second week in April without a ban. I’m not holding my breath…

April is a while off, and you can bank on the Rams facing much sterner tests than the one posed by the Addicks before then.

With the final whistle ending a contest which in truth had been over since the 17th minute, I found myself asking another question.

Why can’t the next 13 be as easy as this?

Weston’s Player Ratings:

Lee Grant — 7: Dealt with everything he had to do well.

Cyrus Christie — 6: Not his best game but a better display.

Ryan Shotton — 7: Took his chance well, albeit against a limited attack.

Richard Keogh — 8: Didn’t put a foot wrong all evening.

Craig Forsyth — 7: Won absolutely everything in the air.

George Thorne — 7: Brilliant again. Gave everyone a scare when limping off…. but he’s ok!

Will Hughes — 7: Another fine performance.

Jeff Hendrick — Weston’s Star Man 9: Excellent display, the sort of performance that one wishes he could produce every game.

Tom Ince — 7: Arguably his quietest performance but still good.

Jesse Lingard — 8: Well taken goal and intelligent in possession.

Darren Bent — 7: Good assist for opener. Largely unnoticed second half.

Subs:

Simon Dawkins — 6: Did well in keeping possession.

Omar Mascarell — 5: A couple of shocking passes. The Thorne effect?

Craig Bryson — 6: Will be wondering when/if he will get a start!

Match Info / Rams Team:

Ref: David Coote

Crowd: 28,277

Derby: Grant, Christie, Keogh, Shotton, Forsyth, Thorne (Mascarell 71’), Hendrick, Hughes (Bryson 76’), Ince, Lingard (Dawkins 69’), Bent.

Unused Subs: Roos, Buxton, Ward, Thomas.

Match Stats — Derby / Charlton:

Goals: Hendrick (9’), Lingard (17’)

Possession: 66% / 34%

Shots On Target: 2 / 3

Shots Off Target: 6 / 5

Corners: 2 / 3

Fouls: 6 / 6

We Said / They Said - Match Reaction:

We Said — Steve McClaren:

"In certain spells we looked excellent but what also impressed me was we looked solid at the back. I think we are a good team with the ball but tonight we looked a good team without the ball.”

"We've still got a lot to do but our midfield is very strong, our bench is good, we can make changes and our loan signings have come in and done well. So I hope we haven't seen the best of this team, I think that's still to come and today I think they showed a maturity and kept in control."

They said — Guy Luzon:

"I think Derby totally deserved to win and played very well, especially in the first 30 minutes but we were not organised well and left gaps between the lines and they used it well.”

"After 30 minutes we came back and organised better but it's not enough against a team like Derby, with their quality. You have to concentrate from the first minute and not for 60 or 55 minutes. They deserve to be in the Premier League and I think they are the best team in this league."

Highlights / Post Match Interviews:

Up Next For The Rams:

Fulham v Derby

Craven Cottage

3:00pm — Saturday 28th of February

Photo: Action Images

Derby County Polls