Derby 4 Portsmouth 0: Neil Allen's verdict - Display of cataclysmic awfulness brings Blues crashing back to earth

Certainly nobody could possibly have foreseen a Pride Park humbling against a side with just one victory in their previous 11 matches.

Nonetheless, John Mousinho’s men found themselves 3-0 down after 29 minutes and from that point it was a case of damage limitation.

Defensively the Blues were abysmal, with the recalled Tom McIntyre enduring a dreadful evening when absolutely nothing went right - and how he must have longed for the final whistle.

Yet others must also bear responsibility, with Josh Murphy criminally failing to track his man for the first goal.

Indeed, Paul Warne’s side looked like scoring every time they attacked in the first half - and for the latter stages of the second too.

Having gone four games undefeated to climb out of the relegation, one humbling defeat cannot quite undo all that excellent work from Mousinho’s troops.

Pompey even remain 21st, ahead of third-placed Cardiff by goal difference, irrespective of the 4-0 hammering.

However, they will need to quickly regroup from a mauling so frustratingly reminiscent of Stoke and Cardiff from earlier in the season - and performances they thought they had put behind them.

Regan Poole wasn’t risked in the starting line-up against Derby - but Pompey welcomed back two players from suspension.

Poole was forced off at half-time against Norwich with a hamstring issue, so McIntyre took his place in the centre of defence at Pride Park.

However, the former Lincoln man was still included on the Blues’ bench as Mousinho erred on the side of caution over his fitness.

In addition, Callum Lang and Andre Dozzell came straight back into the team, having served their one-match bans against the Canaries.

That meant Owen Moxon and Paddy Lane returned to the bench, totalling three changes to the line-up which collected a goalless draw on Tuesday night.

Elsewhere, Harvey Blair and Sammy Silvera dropped out of the 20-man squad to accommodate the returns of McIntyre and Dozzell.

It proved to be a testing start to the game for the Blues, with Derby applying plenty of pressure - and the visitors unable to retain possession.

Sure enough, the deadlock was broken on eight minutes when Nathaniel Mendez-Laing crossed from the left and right-back Kane galloped into the box to finish with a first-time shot.

Crucially, Josh Murphy had allowed the defender to get away from him as he attempted to track back - and the outcome was an early 1-0 lead to the Rams.

The Blues fell further behind on 23 minutes through another poor defensive moment, this time from a right-wing corner.

Eiran Cashin’s free header hit the ground and bounced over Lang on the line to find the back of the net, making it 2-0.

Pompey had their best moment so far on 27 minutes when Colby Bishop intercepted the ball and pushed it through to Lang, who crossed for Murphy.

It was a difficult chance, but the winger fired in a shot which had keeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom clutching at the second attempt.

However, Derby turned the screw further in the 29th minute with Mendez-Laing once again at the heart of it.

He fed Craig Forsyth down the left and his cross was met by Ebou Adams, whose shot deflected off McIntyre to wrongfoot Nicolas Schmid and it was 3-0.

Mousinho made a double change at the break, ripping up his right-hand side with Devlin and Ritchie coming off to be replaced by Zak Swanson and Christian Saydee.

With Saydee in their ranks, there was more of a robustness about the visitors, while his ability to drive with the ball was also proving a useful outlet, nonetheless their first goal wasn’t arriving.

Derby then added a fourth on 65 minutes when Harness escaped down the right, somehow eluding McIntyre’s covering tackle, and his cross was put into his own net by Pack.

Suddenly it was damage limitation time again and Schmid had to be alert to keep several opportunities out amid the multiple substitutions.

Indeed, the Austrian had to dramatically claw one off the line on 88 minutes as it threatened to trickle in.

Still the defeat was comprehensive and the Fratton faithful will be hoping it’s a mere blip in an otherwise impressive period of results.