Derby County 2022/23 Season Review: January/February

The 2022/23 season was always going to be one like no other for Derby County.

There was new ownership, new management and 15 new players - and that was all before September was out!

Memorable victories in League One came at Pride Park Stadium and on the road, whilst a trip to Anfield to face Liverpool in the Carabao Cup and the visit of West Ham United in the Emirates FA Cup brought with them welcome distractions from league action.

An incredible 19 game unbeaten, which ran from late 2022 into early 2023, saw the team strengthen their bid for a play-off spot but in true Derby County fashion, the outcome of the campaign would go right down to the wire.

Over the last few days, dcfc.co.uk has been looking back at the season in monthly instalments.

Here, we look back at the start to 2023 with January and February.

January

As starts to a new year go, they couldn’t have gone much better than this one for Derby with maximum points picked up in the league.

A 4-0 home victory over Accrington Stanley kicked the year off in style, with Tom Barkhuizen netting two and Conor Hourihane and David McGoldrick also on target. and the Rams followed that up by progressing into the Fourth Round of the Emirates FA Cup thanks to a scintillating performance which saw them dispatch League One rivals Barnsley 3-0 on home turf thanks to goals from James Collins, Barkhuizen and Jason Knight.

Midfielder Max Bird scored what turned out to be the goal of the season in a 3-2 victory on the road at Cheltenham Town, with Hourihane and Barkhuizen scoring either side of Bird's stunner, before a hard-fought 2-1 home win over play-off rivals Bolton Wanderers got many believing. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing opened the scoring with a fine finish before Hourihane blasted in a second midway through the second period.

It was the final league match of the month that will live long in the memory of those that were in attendance at Vale Park against Port Vale.

The Rams trailed 1-0 going into the 88th minute before two goals within the space of one minute and 45 seconds from McGoldrick and Mendez-Laing turned the game on its head and sent the away end into ecstasy.

January rounded off with a 2-0 defeat at Pride Park Stadium in the Fourth Round of the Emirates FA Cup to Premier League side West Ham United but that mattered little in the grand scheme of things after an impressive month which saw Paul Warne handed the Sky Bet League One Manager of the Month award.

Off the pitch, Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Harvey White, Forest Green Roverrs goalkeeper Luke McGee and Norwich City winger Tony Springett were brought in on loan as reinforcements.

Results

Sky Bet League One – Derby County 4-0 Accrington Stanley (Barkhuizen x2, McGoldrick, Hourihane)

FA Cup Third Round – Derby County 3-0 Barnsley (Collins, Barkhuizen, Knight)

Sky Bet League One – Cheltenham Town 2-3 Derby County (Hourihane, Bird, Barkhuizen)

Sky Bet League One – Derby County 2-1 Bolton Wanderers (Mendez-Laing, Hourihane)

Sky Bet League One – Port Vale 1-2 Derby County (McGoldrick, Mendez-Laing)

FA Cup Fourth Round – Derby County 0-2 West Ham United

February

From here on out it was full focus on Sky Bet League One and the shortest month of the year would bring with it six fixtures.

It was always going to be hard to top January and it proved that way as February brought with it a mixed bag of results.

Things once again kicked off in style with a thumping 5-0 win over Morecambe, a game in which McGoldrick bagged a third hat-trick of the season. Collins and Knight were also on target in the thumping win.

The incredible unbeaten run in league competition, running back to mid-October, was brought to an end the week later however after a narrow 3-2 loss at Wycombe Wanderers despite Collins and Lewis Dobbin finding the net.

Warne’s men bounced back with four points from six at Pride Park Stadium, drawing 1-1 against Lincoln City thanks to Hourihane's second half strike and a 2-0 success against Charlton Athletic thanks to McGoldrick and Eiran Cashin finding the net, before a disappointing 4-1 defeat at the hands of Barnsley on the road followed.

It wasn’t something to be dwelled on and they ensured it was just a blip when they saw off Cheltenham Town 2-0 to round off the month at Pride Park Stadium thanks to goals from McGoldrick and Dobbin.