Craig Forsyth and Jerry Yates both scored at the start of the second half as Derby climbed out of the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone with a 2-0 victory over Preston at Pride Park.
After losing his opening three matches as manager, John Eustace has turned the Rams’ fortunes around and on Wednesday led them to a fourth straight victory to secure their longest winning run since July 2020.
Milutin Osmajic ought to have given Preston the lead with the very first attack of the game but Derby caught their opponents cold with a quick-fire double after a forgettable first half.
Two goals in four minutes courtesy of Forsyth’s opener and Yates’ eighth goal of the season dealt North End a sucker punch they could not recover from and took Derby above the dotted line for the first time since February.
Injury-hit Preston switched their attention back to the bread and butter and made five changes from their FA Cup quarter-final defeat by Aston Villa while Eustace opted for Ryan Nyambe over Kane Wilson with his only change.
Preston were gifted an opportunity to take the lead inside two minutes as Nyambe’s underhit back pass looped into the path of Osmajic but he aimed straight at Jacob Zetterstrom with a tame finish.
Preston shared more possession of the ball but neither side offered nothing by the way of quality in what was a lacklustre opening quarter to the game.
Derby were close to opening the scoring with their first real foray forward midway through the half as Wilson teased a ball into the area but Marcus Harness could only flash his header across the face of goal.
The visitors had an opportunity on the stroke of half-time when Callum Elder brought down Kaine Kesler-Hayden outside the box but the end product summed up a first period low on quality.
But it only took three minutes of the second half for the Rams to open the scoring.
Elder’s corner caused confusion inside the box but the ball fell kindly for Forsyth, who coolly dispatched into the far corner.
The hosts caught their opposition cold following the interval and doubled their advantage four minutes later through Yates’ first goal in eight games.
Elder once again provided the cross onto the head of Nat Phillips who nodded goalwards and Yates was waiting to divert it beyond David Cornell.
Preston went in search of an equaliser and thought they should have had a penalty when Phillips brought down Emil Riis inside the area.
However, referee Stephen Martin pointed for a corner which left Paul Heckingbottom with his hands on his head and a crucial three points handed to Derby in their fight for survival.
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