Derby County fell to a 1-0 defeat when they hosted Millwall at Pride Park Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Rams took hold of the majority of possession throughout the game, but conceded against the run of play in the final minute of the first half.
It was the Lions' first and only real glance at goal when a corner was headed in by Shaun Hutchinson.
Nathan Byrne returned to the starting line-up for Wayne Rooney’s side having missed out in the draw against Barnsley to a knock he picked up in training. He replaced Andre Wisdom in the starting line-up with the Captains armband going to Colin Kazim-Richards for the first time.
Martyn Waghorn also returned to the Starting XI, replacing Lee Gregory who picked up a knock in training.
The opening 20 minutes saw Craig Forsyth come close twice for the Rams. After nine minutes, he was open at the back post for when Byrne whipped in a cross from the right. The full-back powered a header towards goal, but it went straight into the hands of Bartosz Bialkowski.
Seven minutes later Byrne and Kamil Jozwiak combined down the right flank which allowed Byrne to be set free and fire in another cross to his fellow full-back who this time dived to send his header just wide.
For the remainder of the half, Derby maintained the lion’s share of possession but struggled to find the quality in the final third. Jozwiak came the closest with less than five minutes left to play when he created space on the edge of the box and rifled a shot towards the bottom corner which the Lions’ goalkeeper palmed away.
However, with a minutes left in the first half, Millwall took the lead in their first time getting the ball into the Derby box. A free-kick into the area was cleared for a corner. The resulting in-swinging set piece from Jed Wallace found Hutchinson in front of goal for a free header into the back of the net.
After heading into the dressing room moments after going a goal being, the Rams were up against a Millwall side that would look to sit back even more than in the first half.
They almost got caught on the counter-attack inside the first ten minutes when they broke down the left before feeding to Ben Thompson who had plenty of space in the right of the box. Rather than take the shot, he back-heeled to J. Wallace but Shinnie was able rush in to intercept and clear the danger from the edge of the box.
A couple of chances fell to the Rams around the hour mark. A free kick was awarded down the right flank in a dangerous position after both Byrne and Jozwiak were brought down as they looked to combine. Waghorn delivered the ball into the area and it was headed clear as far as Jason Knight.
From 20 yards out, the midfielder drilled an effort through the crowded area and it whistled past the far post.
Moments later, Jozwiak worked the ball well in the area before finding Shinnie on the edge of the box who was quickly fouled. Kazim-Richards stood over the set piece, but fired into the wall.
With just over ten minutes left to play, Derby came agonisingly close from a brilliant inswinging delivery from Byrne from a corner. It was met by Louie Sibley’s run at the far post. He beat Bialkowski, only to be denied by the cross bar from close range.
As Millwall continued to sit back, the Rams couldn't find the equaliser and will look to bounce back when they return to Pride Park on Tuesday night to face Brentford.
Derby County: Roos, Forsyth, Shinnie, Edmundson (Watson, 60), Jozwiak, Waghorn, Byrne, Kazim-Richards (C), Mengi, Clarke, Knight (Roberts, 60).
Substitutes: Marshall, Wisdom, Bird, Sibley, Buchanan, Baningime, McDonald.
Millwall: Bialkowski, M.Wallace (Ferguson, 67), Hutchinson, Cooper, J.Wallace, Thompson (Bradshaw, 77), Romeo, Pearce (C), Woods, Bennett (Mitchell, 77), Evans (Williams, 84).
Substitutes: Fielding, McNamara, Tiensia, Bodvarsson, Burey.
