Carlton Morris marked his first outing as Derby County captain by scoring the only goal in a 1-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers at Pride Park, a result that delivered back-to-back home wins for the Rams and finally punctured Rangers' impressive away sequence. The striker, handed the armband in the absence of skipper Lewis Travers and his deputy Ebou Adams, applied a close-range finish early on to claim his fifth goal for the club since arriving in the summer and his first in eight games.
Derby were the more assertive side for long periods, twice hitting the woodwork and largely restricting QPR to half-chances until a late rally that brought Ilias Chair's stoppage-time effort, saved by Jacob Widell Zetterstrom. While John Eustace's team are belatedly transforming their home form and now sit five points clear of the bottom three, Julien Stephan's visitors suffered their first away defeat since August and a second loss in three matches, missing the chance to climb into the top seven after previously losing just once in eight.
Early Strike From New Skipper Sets The Tone
With Travers and Adams unavailable, Eustace made the significant decision to hand Morris the captaincy, and the centre-forward responded in emphatic fashion. Inside the opening 11 minutes Derby's bright start was rewarded when Max Johnston swung a ball in from the right towards the back post. Sondre Langas got there first to nudge it beyond goalkeeper Paul Nardi, and Morris, alive to the loose ball on the goal line, reacted quickest to turn it in from close range.