Pride Park Stadium
Derby County rounded off their 2025/26 pre-season games programme with a 2-0 home victory over Atromitos on Saturday afternoon.
The Super League Greece side provided the Rams’ final test of pre-season, with the new Sky Bet Championship campaign set to get underway for Eustace’s charges on Saturday 9th August at the bet365 Stadium, where they will meet Stoke City (3pm kick-off).
Winger Corey Blackett-Taylor’s fine pre-season form continued as he once again won and converted a penalty in the 15th minute.
Kenzo Goudmijn doubled Derby’s advantage directly from a corner five minutes after half-time to seal a fourth win in six pre-season outings.
Summer signings Danny Batth and Carlton Morris made their first appearances on the Pride Park pitch since joining the Rams and the first chance of the game came saw Peter Michorl go close for the visitors in the fourth minute. His looped strike from the edge of the box landed just over Jacob Widell Zetterström’s crossbar.
Derby controlled the pace of the match in the opening stages, moving the ball about and establishing themselves. However, Atromitos winger Makana Baku did well to exploit a gap down the right flank in the eighth minute as he found space to shoot from an angle, but he dragged his low shot wide of the near post.
Ebou Adams nearly profited from Blackett-Taylor’s positive wing-play in the tenth minute. The attacker dribbled beyond three Atromitos players down the left to cross the ball to Adams in the penalty area, whose shot from 12 yards struck the crossbar.
A penalty was awarded Derby in the 15th minute after a cross-field pass from Jake Rooney was taken down well by Blackett-Taylor, who surged into the box and was felled by a defender.
For the third time in pre-season, he netted calmly from the penalty spot to put the Rams in front.
Zetterström was called into action in the 28th minute when Baku was played in behind by Brayan Palmezano’s incisive through ball. The Swedish goalkeeper got down low to save with his outstretched leg at the near post, assisted by pressure from Batth to force Baku wide.
Adams had an audacious bicycle kick attempt foiled just before the break as tight defending saw his acrobatic effort blocked before it could travel towards goal.
Derby made one change at the break, with Isaac Gordon entering the field in place of Ryan Nyambe.
A strong start to the half was quickly made the most of as Goudmijn’s in-swinging corner headed directly into the net in the 50th minute to put Derby two goals in front.
Morris looked certain to score after 58 minutes when Kayden Jackson found him in space inside the penalty area, but a clearance off the line denied the striker his first goal in Rams colours.
Blackett-Taylor brimmed with confidence as a chopped backheel saw him perform a quick give-and-go down the left flank before he cut inside and shot just wide of the mark in the 62nd minute.
Dajaune Brown was Eustace’s second change of the afternoon just after the hour, as he came on in place of Morris up front.
Rooney’s long ball down the right nearly proved fruitful in the 70th minute as tenacious chasing from Gordon saw him beat the defender and cross into Jackson, but the attacker hit just beyond the target.
A well-constructed move in the 82nd minute, with Gordon unleashing
Jackson down the right with a long ball, saw Brown fire over the bar as he met
the winger’s low cross into the box.
A precise ball into Baku opened up an opportunity for the
winger in behind the Derby defence, but the Rams reassembled quickly to quell
the threat of the Atromitos attacker to keep the score at 2-0 to end the match.
Derby County: Zetterström (GK), Nyambe (I. Gordon 46), Rooney, Batth, Forsyth, Adams (C), L. Thompson, Goudmijn, Jackson, Blackett-Taylor, Morris (Brown 65).
Substitutes Not Used: O’Donnell (GK), O’Neill (GK), Banks, Osayande, Hawkins, Richards, Tola, Wheeldon.
4,746.
The opening game of Derby’s 2025/26 Sky Bet Championship season comes on Saturday 9th August against Stoke City at the bet365 Stadium (3pm kick-off). The Rams will be backed by a sold out away end of over 3,300 supporters in the Potteries.
