Mason Mount helps Derby County to crucial win in playoff six-pointer

After a hard-fought 2-0 win against Bristol City, Frank Lampard’s Derby County are just a win away from making the promotion play-offs.

Mason Mount came up with one of the most valuable contributions of the game, doing brilliantly to turn and twist pass Nathan Baker, then cross for Tom Lawrence who met it with a low shot that took a deflection off Tomas Kalas (one of the five Chelsea loanees to take part in today’s game) and into the net!

Bristol City had possession for longer spells during the game, leaving Derby to make rapid, direct forays forward. Mount, playing further ahead in a 4-2-3-1 rather than his usual role in a 4-3-3, performed his role effectively but a large part of his performance lay in his defensive duties; he led the press from midfield and caused Bristol City to lose their midfield rhythm several times.

Fikayo Tomori, recently named Derby’s Player of the Year, had to depart the field after just 11 minutes as he failed to recover from a clash with Famara Diedhiou. However, it’s been confirmed as nothing more than a case of dead leg, which should mean Tomori will return for Derby’s remaining two games.

Seeing as Swansea City could only manage a 2-2 draw against Hull City today, a mid-week win at the Liberty Stadium could effectively see Derby seal 6th place in the league table, owing to their superior goal difference over Middlesbrough.

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Frank Lampard’s done very well to lead Derby’s play-off charge in his debut season in management, let’s hope he can see the job through!