Derby County and John Eustace urged to fix issue that has been a "problem all season" | OneFootball

The Rams have not scored at home since Boxing Day, and have found the back of the net just four times in 2025.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Derby County have a mountain to climb if they want to stay in the Championship with the club rooted to the bottom of the table and now a colossal seven points from safety after Hull City's 2-0 win over Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday evening.

The Rams have only picked up eight points in their last 15 games, and the situation is now looking incredibly bleak as the weeks until the end of the season tick by.

John Eustace has had a tough start to life in the East Midlands after switching Blackburn Rovers and Ewood Park for Pride Park last month and he needs his players to show the complete opposite of what they are currently showing if they are to remain in the second tier.

However, Derby do not look like picking up points quickly, or at all, and with the visit of their head coach's former team to DE24 on Saturday, they have to hope that this weekend can be a turning point in their campaign.

Derby's main issue at the moment highlighted

It's been a season of two halves for the Rams, with their bright start to life back in the Championship taking them into mid-table early on. However, since October they have struggled greatly, picking up just 20 points since they beat QPR 2-0 at home in their ninth game of 2024/25.

Eustace has hit work cut out to inspire a team that is filled with players low on confidence, and one that is conceding late goals on an almost weekly basis.

Nevertheless, Football League World has asked their Derby Fan Pundit, Shaun Woodward, what is the biggest problem that his club are facing.

He told FLW: "The club's biggest issue right now at this very time is clearly on the pitch. We just cannot score a goal.

"It's nine hours and counting since we last scored a goal at Pride Park, I think it's nine hours now since we scored a goal from open play. We've scored one penalty in our last half dozen games; I think it is. So, we're seriously lacking someone to put the ball in the net.

"It isn't just our strikers’ fault because, clearly, they need the service. That's been a problem all season. We haven't had the ball-playing midfielders to create and to find that pass, and equally, we haven't had the wide men to put in decent deliveries, beat a man and put a cross in."

Shaun continued: "So, it's really, really hard to see where our next goal is coming from, let alone win. Despite being half-decent at the back, it doesn't matter how good you are if every time you concede, you're going to lose the game 1-0 and I think we've lost a dozen or more games this season, 1-0.

"Clearly, the attacking third has been our biggest issue all season, but right now even more so with the run we’re on."

Derby's lack of scoring is allowing teams to take advantage

13 of Derby's 20 defeats in the Championship this season have come by a margin of one goal, with only QPR beating them by three or more goals.

While it does show they can stay in games, this does not make a difference if they are unable to find the back of the net and they need their midfielders and those out on the wing to start providing more often.

Jerry Yates is often left isolated up front by himself chasing shadows, looking for a hint of the ball, while the midfield struggles to put together a sequence of play that can take them from back to front quickly and intelligently.

Former Rams striker, Malcolm Christie, said on BBC Radio Derby on Monday that Eustace's players had only two passages of play with 10 or more successive passes against Middlesbrough on Saturday and this is simply not good if Derby want to survive in the Championship.

Goals have dried up from set-pieces as well, leaving the Rams without any sort of strength going forward and if this does not change immediately, then League One beckons.