MATCH REPORT: Derby County 0-0 Stoke City

Derby County secured their Sky Bet Championship status for next season on the final day of the 2024/25 campaign with a goalless draw against Stoke City before a sold-out crowd at Pride Park Stadium.

Ebou Adams got his first tackle in early when he chased Bosun Lawal to the byline in the opening exchanges in his first outing since being named as the Jack Stamps Player of the Season earlier in the week. The midfielder blocked the cross and was first to the loose ball, which he hit downfield, to set out the physicality of the game.

Stoke had the first corner of the match four minutes in. Lewis Baker whipped the ball to the back post towards Al-Hamadi and the striker headed back across goal, but the referee saw a push in the box and awarded a foul to Derby.

Stoke saw a lot of the ball during the opening ten minutes, but the Rams' defence stayed compact to limit the visitors' chances.

Derby applied some pressure to the Stoke backline as the clock hit 15 minutes. Marcus Harness’ corner was cleared away but collected by the Derby midfield and spread back out to Harness on the left. The Rams' number 18 crossed once more, but Stoke were able to clear the danger.

The Potters nearly scored an own goal 18 minutes in after a miscommunication between goalkeeper Viktor Johansson and his defence. Johansson did well to make the save and the ball bounced around the six-yard box, but Derby were not fast enough to react and Stoke cleared their lines.

The home side continued their pressure as Harness beat his man and crossed from the left. Yates was lurking in the middle, but the Stoke defence once again managed to clear the danger.

The ball came out to Matt Clarke on the edge of the box after a corner in the 30th minute as Derby pushed to open the scoring. The defender played the ball to Harrison Armstrong, whose cross was met by a Stoke head and turned out for a corner.

Derby were relentless in their pressure, as Armstrong crossed from the left after a clearance from the corner. He found the head of Langås, but Johansson's fantastic reactions denied the Rams the opener.

Langås came close again just moments later, but this time he put his effort over the crossbar.

Lewis Baker had the final chance before the break when he tried his luck from 20 yards out but dragged his strike well wide of the goal.

Derby started the second half brightly as Armstrong hit a good left-footed strike from distance, but his effort was collected by the Stoke goalkeeper.

Al-Hamadi found himself in space three minutes after the restart. The Potters’ striker drove into the Derby box, but Vickers stood tall and saved the resulting shot.

The ball bounced around the Derby six-yard box after a battle to deal with a Stoke corner. Clarke took control of the situation and cleared his lines amongst some chaos in the box.

John Eustace made his first change of the afternoon in the 66th minute as Nathaniel Mendez-Laing replaced Marcus Harness.

Craig Forsyth whipped in a free-kick from the left soon afterwards, which found the feet of Adams just inside the box, whose touch took him wide. The Gambian international swivelled to get his shot away but his effort was saved.

Derby chased the opener as the clock ticked down and Yates latched onto a through ball and back-healed it into the path of Kane Wilson, whose shot was deflected behind for a corner in the 85th minute.

The Rams came tantalisingly close to breaking the deadlock just moments later. Vickers hit a free-kick from inside his own half, Clarke headed it on to Yates whose first shot was saved, then his second attempt hit the crossbar. The ball bounced out to Phillips, whose scorpion kick also hit the crossbar and Stoke cleared their lines.

The final stages passed by without any meaningful action and the point, and results elsewhere, confirmed Derby will be playing their football in the Championship next term.

After finding themselves seven points adrift at the bottom of the table two months ago, Eustace, his staff and his players, aided by the fine backing of the Rams' faithful, have dug deep to secure the club's second tier status for another year 12 months on from sealing promotion from League One.

The Teams

Derby County: Vickers (GK), Wilson, Forsyth (Pieters 90+2), Langås, Yates (Roofe 88), Phillips, Thompson (Jackson 88), Harness (Mendez-Laing 66), Clarke, Armstrong, Adams (C).

Substitutes Not Used: Luthra (GK), Barkhuizen, Osborn, Goudmijn, Blackett-Taylor.

Stoke City: Johansson (GK), Gooch, Burger, Baker, Al-Hamadi (Lowe 88), Junho (Moran 88), Wilmot, Lawal, Gallagher, Gibson (C), Phillips.

Substitutes Not Used: Bonham (GK), Pearson, Koumas, Seko, Moran, Lowe, Manhoef, Fawunmi, Griffin.

Referee: Oliver Langford

Assistant Referee: Sam Lewis, Andrew Fox

Fourth Official: Leigh Doughty