The brutal Derby County panning as rivals hand Portsmouth top-of-the-table boost

Derby boss Paul Warne slammed his players as they missed out on the chance to knock Pompey off top spot after a tepid Reading reverse.

Warne’s side had the chance to usurp John Mousinho’s men at the League One summit, but fell to a poor 1-0 defeat at the strugglers last night.

Paul Mukairu’s 54th-minute goal was the difference, with Ruben Selles’ side running out well-deserved winners as the Rams played their game in hand.

Derby created little of note throughout the game, with former Pompey loanee Nathaniel Mendez-Laing offering the only attacking verve from the visitors.

New signing Corey Blackett-Taylor fired not too far wide after making his debut following his £300,000 arrival from Charlton, with a loan move becoming permanent this summer.

It was Arsenal loanee Tyreece John-Jules who missed the visitor’s best chance in the second half as he headed wide, but Derby were second best and deserved no return from their display.

It means Pompey retain the top spot they’ve occupied since the start of December going into this weekend’s trip to Port Vale.

Warne acknowledged his side wasted a chance to make a statement and got what they deserved against the Royals.

He told Derbyshire Live: ‘It was a very good opportunity to get to the top of the league, but I thought we got outfought and outrun. Sometimes football just comes down to the simple basics. I didn't think there was much tactical nuance to the game.

‘We didn't win enough second balls and when you can't play the way you want to, sometimes you have to roll your sleeves up. We didn't really match their intensity. They are the second-best in the league at pressing and anything in the middle of the pitch, they came after us.

‘Any more than two touches and it's a problem. When we got to the final third, we never had any end product. But I didn't think there was much in the game and a draw might have been a fair result. They just had a bit more energy than we had.’

The result means Derby remain three points behind Pompey, with 28 games played by both sides. 

Bolton moved to within two points of the Blues with a tight 1-0 win over relegation strugglers Cheltenham, after their weekend loss at Leyton Orient. Victor Adeboyejo got the only goal of the game in the 24th minute.

Barnsley are now four points behind with a game in hand, after Sam Long’s own goal gave them a 1-0 victory at Oxford. Just four points now cover the top five spots in League One.