A tough end to a brilliant week: stoppage time equaliser costs Derby

While West Brom will now happily take their travel sickness tablets, no amount of sugar will sweeten the sour end to Derby’s otherwise excellent week.

The Rams were given a taste of their own medicine when Chris Mepham swung a boot to bundle the ball over the line at the back post. Be it Joe Ward’s stunning late free kick in the Carabao Cup or Andi Weimann’s 100^th-anniversary-spoiler, Derby have subjected The Baggies to multiple sucker-punches already this season.

You could probably file the opener at Pride Park under sucker punch too. Eric Ramsay’s side were solid in his trademark 5-4-1 that had been much criticised after their 5-0 thumping at home to Norwich. Forcing Derby to keep possession, while cutting off forward passing lanes, they ensured The Rams were penned in. The ball was often stuck going between the hosts’ centre backs and holding midfielders.

So, it is no wonder that the travelling fans, who had not seen their side pick up an away point since the beginning of October, celebrated wildly as they avoided equalling their worst away run since 1891.

West Brom were so solid, in fact, that they limited their hosts to just one shot in the first half. The goal.

Debutant goalkeeper Max O’Leary spilled Callum Elder’s free kick, which then dropped to Patrick Agyemang, who poked it in through a crowd of bodies from six yards out. Despite the close distance, this was not an easy chance – but as the 25-year-old showed at Preston, his finishing is better when it is instinctive.

Speaking half an hour after the match, John Eustace remains his usual measured self despite believing that his opponents should never have had the corner from which they scored. “I’ve seen it back a lot of times, he certainly didn’t get a touch,” he says of Jacob Widell Zetterström.

But “perspective” is important, Eustace reflects at the end of an eight-minute press conference. “Being two minutes away from nine points in a week isn’t bad.”

And that same sentiment surely applies to the fact that his side were also two minutes away from sitting in the Championship’s top six for the first time since August 2019. Though the 46-year-old does not mention this, probably for this reason.

The goals were fittingly unattractive in a poor-quality encounter that was quite obviously a game too far for Derby. It was, after all, their “third game in six days”, with the Solihul-native admitting that his players were “leggy”.

Eustace said his players were "leggy" in their draw with West Brom.

While, on the surface, The Rams’ injury list looks fairly short – just Carlton Morris, Max Johnston and Josh Vickers were notable absentees – the reality is more nuanced.

Eustace says that despite starting at the back, “Danny Batth hasn’t trained all week.” While Agyemang and Ben Brereton Díaz, who miscued a great side-footed chance in the second half, are carrying knocks according to their boss. Substitute Dion Sanderson has not trained for three weeks, and like Batth, “really shouldn’t be involved at all”.

In the middle, David Ozoh and Lewis Travis are still building up fitness after eight and 11 weeks out respectively and had only played together alongside Bobby Clark once prior to the past week.

Though they were afforded little space between the lines by West Brom, their impact as trio has been clear since starting at Deepdale, and Eustace appeared pleased with their performances. Clark’s classy goal at Charlton was surely the standout moment of the trip to South East London. Possibly aside from the heroics of Richard O’Donnell in his last-minute Derby debut 3,181 days since his last second tier appearance.

The absence of quality at Pride Park when compared to performances on the road is a reoccurring problem for Derby. But also reinforced on Friday night was just how much those two big away victories took out of a team Eustace concedes “may be” punching above their weight considering what he sees as their lack of squad depth.

With a week until The Rams’ trip to Bristol City, now will come a little respite from matches at least. But despite the late sickener and recent ailments, it is not time for a duvet day, a trashy film or a bowl of chicken soup. The head coach insists: “we’ve got to brush ourselves off and get back into training on Monday.”