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Gareth Davis reports from Pride Park Stadium

Derby eased to a 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday with their best 90 minutes of the season and a trio of outstanding goals.

The first arrived shortly after the half-hour mark as Kris Commons picked up on a loose ball and skipped into the box before cracking his shot past Lee Grant.

Commons turned provider early in the second half with a driving run and pass for Miles Addison to register his first senior strike.

And if that wasn't enough, Jordan Stewart's thunderbolt wrapped things up on 66 - though Derby could easily have had more with Grant producing some good second-half saves to deny Nathan Ellington and Nacer Barazite.

The visitors rarely threatened as the Rams extended their fine home record with a comfortable three points.

Derby boss Paul Jewell shuffled his pack for the visit of the Owls with Rob Hulse returning in attack, though the big dilemma was who he would replace after Tito Villa and Nathan Ellington both netted in the midweek Carling Cup win over Leeds United.

Ellington was the man to miss out with Hulse partnering Villa, while there was also a start on the right of midfield for Nacer Barazite, and Miles Addison came back in the centre after his one-match suspension.

Also keeping his place in goal was Roy Carroll, who had returned for the Leeds clash, while the visitors named ex-Rams Lee Grant and Marcus Tudgay in their starting line-up, along with Deon Burton on the bench.

Grant was in action just seconds into the game with a flying save away to his left as Paul Green took aim with a controlled volley from outside the box.

But with three on the clock Derby were sweating as Leon Clarke controlled a long ball and laid it off to Akpo Sodje, who had a clear sight of goal from 16 yards but planted his shot past the post.

Then Green smashed one into the side-netting after a fine move involving Barazite and Jordan Stewart - half of the Pride Park crowd thought the former Doncaster man had scored, given the angle of the shot.

Derby had opened brightly and on ten they had Grant stretching again as he claimed a Hulse header from a fine Kris Commons cross.

The Rams almost found themselves in trouble shortly afterwards however when Clarke out-muscled Lewin Nyatanga on the edge of the box, but back came Claude Davis to steal the ball away as the Wednesday front-man was ready to pull the trigger.

Some of Derby's football in the first 20 minutes was akin to their opening against Leeds in midweek, when the moved play about the field effortlessly and had the visitors chasing around in attempt to close them down.

But the cutting edge was missing and on 24 Tudgay steamed in on the far post in search of another goal at Pride Park in Wednesday colours only to plant his header straight at Carroll.

And they were in front on the half-hour though more by capitalising on a mistake than anything else.

That said, when Commons picked up on Steve Watson's loose clearance on the edge of the box he still had work to do as he skipped past Tony McMahon before drilling his left-footed shot low past Grant and into the far corner.

Spurr drilled a 20-yarder over the bar with the visitors searching for a quick response.

But all they mustered ahead of the interval was a yellow card for Sodje, who caught Carroll with the Derby keeper scampering out to clear Stewart's short back-pass, though James O'Connor did fire an ambitious long-range effort well wide of the target.

Derby ended the half on top but they weren't able to add to their lead before the whistle blew despite piling the pressure on.

Wednesday opened up the second period brightly with Clarke looking a particular threat when he broke through from the left, but his effort never threatened an equaliser.

But six minutes after the break they found themselves two behind.

Commons picked up the ball in midfield and drove forward before, with Hulse to his right, slipping the ball left for Addison to go on into the box and roll his shot calmly past Grant.

The teenager, so cruelly denied against Nottingham Forest a fortnight ago, might have allowed himself a cautionary glance but this time nothing was going to chalk his first senior goal off.

Wednesday boss Brian Laws, sensing the game slipping away from his side, made a double change in response as he hauled off Sodje and Sean McAllister, to be replaced by Burton and Jermaine Johnson.

The ball was in the back of the net again on 59 minutes when Grant fumbled Barazite's free-kick over the line, but play was pulled back for a foul on the former Pride Park stopper.

And at the other end Clarke had a good chance to pull one back but only managed to blaze his shot well over the bar with Stewart closing in.

But out of nowhere the Rams went three up on 66.

There seemed to be absolutely nothing on when Stewart picked up the ball inside the Wednesday half but he strode forward and, from fully 30 yards out, let fly with a thunderous left-footed effort that whistled past Grant and into the top corner.

It was cruise control for Derby now and their main test was making sure that they did not switch off and give the opponents any sort of sniff as they aimed to keep their first home clean sheet of the season.

Tudgay might have done better than to fire wastefully over from a corner as Davis put him under pressure, but with 12 minutes to go there were no signs of the Rams trying to shut up shop as they replaced Villa with Ellington.

The Duke had an early opportunity as he met Hulse's cross but was denied by Grant, more by luck than judgment as the Derby number nine's header struck him at the near post.

Grant was more on the mark on 84 with a tremendous stop to deny Barazite after the Dutch youngster had picked up on some loose defending by the visitors and lined up his shot well.

Derby didn't find a fourth, but neither did they look like conceding as they comfortably saw out the last few minutes to secure all three points with a fine performance.

Derby: Carroll, Connolly (C), Green (Zadkovich 87), Stewart, Commons (Kazmierczak 86), Villa (Ellington 78), Hulse, Nyatanga, Davis, Addison, Barazite.

Substitutes: Bywater (GK), McEveley.

Sheffield Wednesday: Grant, Spurr, Watson, Tudgay, McAllister (Johnson 56), Beevers, Wood (C), O'Connor, Clarke (Jeffers 67), McMahon, Sodje (Burton 56).

Substitutes: O'Donnell (GK), Buxton.

Attendance: 30,111 (2,800 visiting fans).