Derby County 0-1 Stoke City: Championship Match Report

Stoke City arrived off the back of three wins against Bolton Wanderers 2-1 away, Sheffield United 2-1 at home and Watford 2-1 away and one draw against Cardiff City 1-1 away and last time out a 2-3 home defeat to high flying Middlesbrough at the Bet365 Stadium.

The last three games between the two sides have seen a win for each and a draw. Derby County beat Stoke City at home 2-0 in April 2026, lost away in August 2025 1-3 and drew 0-0 at home back in May 2025.

Derby County manager John Eustace started with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Josh Vickers in goal, then a back four of Joe Ward, Ryan Nyambe, Dion Sanderson and Ryan Hedges then two holding midfielders in David Ozoh and captain Lewis Travis then three attacking midfielders in Mo Fuseini, Bobby Clark and Sam Szmodics with Carlton Morris up front. Derby County made two changes from the last game with Ryan Nyambe and Lewis Travis coming in for Langas and Alan Mowatt.

Stoke City manager Mark Robins started with a 3-4-3 formation with Viktor Johansson the captain in goal, then a back three of Ben Johnson, Ben Wilmot and Luke Graham then a four man midfield of Justin Devenny, Djibril Soumare, Ethan Galbraith and Eric Bocat then three attacking players in Jack McGlynn, Lamine Cisse and Bosun Lawal. Stoke City made two changes from the last match with Bae Jun-Ho and Tchamadeu replaced by Bosun Lawal and Justin Devenny.

Stoke City kicked off the first half wearing an all khaki strip with Derby County in their traditional white and black strip.

Derby County started better than Stoke City and forced an early corner off defender Ben Wilmot but the delivery into the visitors penalty area came to nothing for the Rams in the sixth minute.

Stoke City came forward on a fast counter attack in the ninth minute which saw Lamine Cisse find Jack McGlynn but his left footed shot was easily saved by Josh Vickers in the Derby County goal.

In the 12th minute an Eric Bocat left footed shot was blocked by a Derby County defender after a lovely assist by Jack McGlynn. A Stoke City corner in the 15th minute was headed clear by Dion Sanderson who rose highest to head the ball clear.

Stoke City came forward with urgency in the 20th minute but the Derby County defence held firm. Derby County came forward with Sam Szmodics in the 23rd minute and his long ball pass over the top to Carlton Morris was excellent but the ball was intercepted after a challenge that looked a foul, though referee Oliver Langford waved away appeals for a free kick from Morris.

Stoke City's second corner in the 25th minute was taken short by Ethan Galbraith to Jack McGlynn and his long range right footed shot went wide of the target.

It was all Stoke City who forced another corner in the 29th minute which after pushing and shoving was finally taken in the 31st minute but it came to nothing as Carlton Morris headed the ball clear.

Stoke City's Eric Bocat was fouled in the 34th minute and after attention the game continued but the pressure Stoke City put on the Derby County goal was cleared by the busy back four marshalled well by Dion Sanderson, Joe Ward, Ryan Nyambe and Lewis Travis.

Stoke City replaced the injured Eric Bocat with Luca Bombino in the 38th minute. A Derby County free kick in the 40th minute ended with Bobby Clark firing a right footed shot wide of the target.

Another Derby County free kick taken by Joe Ward was launched into the Stoke City penalty area but Luke Graham headed clear in the 43rd minute.

Then Derby County had another free kick in the 45th minute which was hit into the near post by Joe Ward but it was cleared by Stoke City. Bobby Clark shot in the 45th+2 minute which was saved easily by Viktor Johansson.

A Derby County corner in the 45th+3 minute saw Sam Szmodics shot saved from the edge of the penalty area. The teams went in level at 0-0 at the half time interval after a scrappy opening half on a chilly autumnal East Midlands afternoon. Stoke City replaced Jack McGlynn with George Hirst in the 46th minute.

Derby County kicked off the second half. Luke Graham the Stoke City defender gave the visitors the lead with a deflected header from the centre of the penalty area into the top right corner of the net from an assist by the impressive Ethan Galbraith following a set piece to make it 0-1 in the 49th minute.

In the 52nd minute Derby County replaced Lewis Travis because of injury with Rhian Brewster the former Liverpool striker. Rhian Brewster had an attempt on goal in the 63rd minute which hit the post and was then cleared upfield.

Then two minutes later in the 65th minute Sam Szmodics saw a good right footed shot on target blocked. Stoke City replaced Bosun Lawal with Maksym Talovierov and Lamine Cisse with Robert Bozenik in the 68th minute.

Carlton Morris saw a header from the centre of the penalty area saved by Viktor Johansson in the 71st minute from an assist by Joe Ward as the Rams pressed for an equaliser.

Derby County replaced Mohammed Fuseini with Henrik Meister in the 73rd minute. Henrik Meister had a good header which went just wide of the goal in the 74th minute from an assist by Rhian Brewster.

David Ozoh was cautioned with a yellow card in the 76th minute for a bad foul. George Hirst saw a right footed shot from outside the penalty area go wide of the left post from an assist by Justin Devenny in the 82nd minute.

Then two minutes later Justin Devenny saw a right footed shot go wide from an assist by Ben Johnson in the 84th minute. With time running out Derby County manager John Eustace introduced Corey Blackett-Taylor, Filip Bilbija and Lars-Jorgen Salvesen for Bobby Clark, Ryan Hedges and Sam Szmodics in the 87th minute but that failed to bring an equaliser.

Stoke City manager Mark Robins introduced Junior Tchamadeu for Justin Devenny in the 88th minute. In the 89th minute David Ozoh saw a left footed shot saved by Viktor Johansson from a headed assist by Carlton Morris.

Stoke City deserved the narrow 1-0 Midlands derby win. It is only a matter of time before the Derby County board seek another managerial change with the team in 23rd spot with just 6 points from a possible 33 with a single win and three draws - the trap door awaits for John Eustace after another failure to win at Pride Park.