Derby head coach Paul Warne admitted he was “exhausted” after a 2-0 win over Carlisle clinched promotion back to the Championship and said he would be walking his dog before contemplating a party.
Warne previously achieved three promotions with Rotherham and he saw his team take a big step towards a fourth when Max Bird fired them in front in the fifth minute.
The midfielder, who signed for Bristol City in January and was loaned back to Derby, marked his 200th and final appearance for the club with a stunning drive from the edge of the box.
But Derby looked jittery and Jack Armer twice tested Joe Wildsmith before the Derby keeper tipped over a Georgie Kelly header ahead of half-time.
They needed a second and it came in the 59th minute after a Wildsmith free-kick was headed down by Sonny Bradley and James Collins fired in his 19th of the season from close range.
That sent a packed Pride Park into full party mode and the final whistle was greeted by scenes of wild jubilation as thousands poured onto the pitch to celebrate Derby’s return to the Championship after a two-year absence.
Warne said: “I’m just relieved, my missus will tell me off in a minute for not having any promotion emotion but I’m just exhausted; if I could lie down here and go to sleep I would.
“I won’t drink, I’ll drive home tonight, take my dog out and buy him some pork scratchings and be pleased to be with him.
“Then tomorrow I’m taking my coaches and their wives out and I’ll be blind drunk tomorrow whereas today I just want to get back to my own house and just sit down and think ‘thank god’ because emotionally it’s just exhausting.
“It still feels surreal, it won’t sink in for a few days but now I’ll just drive home and have a nice evening.”
Carlisle manager Paul Simpson, who won promotion as a player with Derby in 1996, said: “We talked about trying to keep it tight early on and seeing if we could get them a bit nervous and there was a nervousness around the ground.
“It’s a fantastic strike from Bird, I’ve got to give him that, I can complain that we allowed him to come inside but I don’t think Harry (Lewis) had a lot of chance with it.
“After that I thought it settled us down, we managed to play, we passed the ball well, we had a bit of control without creating good chances.
“The second goal is a real sucker punch because it’s just a straight ball and we didn’t deal with it but give credit to Derby, they do that well, they put balls in the box that cause you problems.”
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