Oh dear, the euphoria of Tuesday quickly punctured. The Derby fans in the pub in Donnington pre-game asked us to go easy on them but we reminded them we'd managed to lose to Ipswich and I'm afraid today's performance wasn't much better than that one.

Lucas back for Mills, otherwise same team as Milan. Towards the start it looked like it could be an easy game - Derby were giving the ball away at regular intervals but we weren't doing much with the possession ourselves and their confidence grew. They should have scored when a free header went over from 6 yards and nearly did when Harte gave the ball away and Christie's first time shot was well saved by Martyn.

At this point we'd made few chances, the full-backs were getting plenty of space but we seemed to just get stuck 35 yards from goal. Then the game looked to change on half an hour: a free-kick on the right which Harte swung in and it flew into the top corner. I think it may have been something of a fluke, one of those where he was looking for a header and hit it to high; but with Harte at 14-1 with Bluesq I wasn't complaining. We were still celebrating when Bridges ran through onto a poor back pass and was brought down from behind. After talking to the linesmen the ref eventually sent Carbonari off and Harte blasted the free-kick into the wall.

Only other thing of note to happen in the half was Duberry appearing to land on his head just before h-t. He got up after treatment but soon crumpled in a heap and was stretchered off as the rest of the team left the pitch. During half-time Paul Cadd got all the pies - so we've decided to let him have Gav's away season ticket for the rest of the year (while Gav researches obscure Celtic words).

Second-half Mills replaces Duberry. At this point a team that can beat Milan should use the numerical advantage to spread the ball around and control the game, except we didn't. We lacked width and the ability to keep hold of the ball, maybe this was the time to bring McPhail on and use his passing ability in a 4-4-2. The game stayed pretty even, Martyn made a wonderful save to tip Burton's shot onto the bar and down our end Bowyers cross was touched by Smith, missed by Matteo and bounced back off the post.

It looked like we'd get away with our poor performance as Derby took off their best player Christie, to initiate "Smith Out!" chants from the Derby fans, who as ever had been noisy throughout. Unfortunately Kinkladze was one of the subs and soon nipped between Harte and Dacourt and curled the ball into the far corner and Jim Smith's popularity soared.

We could still have won the game, Bridges collected an overhit cross, cut inside and his shot was nearly caught by the defender but the ref failed to give the penalty. Bridges then skipped past a couple of defenders on the edge of the box and having done the difficult bit blasted over with the keeper to beat. McPhail came on for Bakke with a minute left. Hmm. Should have won. Didn't.

Scores

Martyn 8 - MoM - A couple of great saves, embarrassing that our goalie is the best player against ten men.

Kelly 6 - Lot of possession but never really sure what to do with it.

Harte 6 - A goal from a free-kick at last, got forward a lot but distribution was poor.

Duberry 7 / Mills 6 - Dubes was doing OK, sods law says he's now injured. Mills was OK.

Lucas 7 - Good job he's back, had a solid game.

Bakke 6 - Had moments when he looked like he might take control but tired quickly.

Dacourt 6.5 - Was OK defensively, shooting poor.

Bowyer 7 - Worked hard as usual, unluckily booked.

Matteo 7 - Worked well covering as Harte went forwards, only player who gave us any width at times.

Bridges 6 - Some nice touches but confidence low around goal.

Smith 6 - Poor, gave away loads of free-kicks needlessly, which wasted decent positions. Try jumping at the ball not the player.

McPhail - On for 60 seconds - 100 percent in the OPTA stats.

Ref - Terrible. Needed linesmen help before sending Carbonari off, plenty of mistakes on throw-in / corner decisions and didn't use the advantage law well.

BTW - On the way home a real Leeds fan who thought we'd been playing Coventry phoned into 606 to complain about how the Arsenal fans were moaning about Wenger. "You won't find any Leeds fans having a go at O'Leary after a couple of poor results". Obviously not a lister then.

Reporter: Matt G

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! Last Tuesday the mighty AC Milan were slain at the death by a rejuvenated Leeds Today 10-men Derby out-fought and out-thought Leeds to gain a well deserved point from a scrappy encounter. A win would have flattered Leeds.

A wonderful free-kick from Ian Harte separated the teams at half-time and a trip on Bridges just before the break saw the dismissal of influential Derby defender Carbonari. Ironically Derby were better without him.

For 10 minutes, at the start of the 2nd half, with the one man advantage Leeds were cruising. Kelly had the freedom of the right hand side but as usual his quality was non-existent. Derby with the bubbly Christie leading the line rarely threatened despite their tenacity in middle of the park. Seth Johnson single-handedly destroyed all Leeds could offer.

The turning point came mid-way through the 2nd half when Leeds broke down the right for the umpteenth time and the low cross into the box somehow avoided the net and collided with the post to safety. Seconds later Derby were clear and the Leeds defence fortuitously smothered their attack to safety.

Derby's self-belief grew. Leeds, lacking any effective width, looked one dimensional with the hard working Smith and poncy Bridges dropping too deep to hurt the depleted Derby back line. Huckerby bit his nails on the bench.

The introduction of Kinkladze and Sturridge gave the Rams the fillip they deserved and it was no surprise to see the Georgian wizard step effortlessly past the static Leeds defence to coolly guide the ball past a static Martyn into the net. The Rams fans reiterated their hatred of Leeds.

Derby were never going to score more than one. Their fans deserved better - they sang long and loud throughout in a manner which would put the Kop to shame. It was now up to Leeds. Bridges danced past two Derby defenders but his shot one-on-one was horrible. The corner flag ducked.

The guy needs a goal. He is so far off last years standard that sometimes you have to blink to see if it really is him. Then it dawned on me. Leeds were also only going to score once - and that was from a set piece. I really don't know what was said at half time but Derby's spirit eventually won through and Leeds were left kicking themselves for not getting maximum points from the bottom of the table side. Quite simply we did not create enough chances against a rather poor Derby side.

Without Harry Kewell we are a top 10 side: with him we are a top 5 one. O'Leary will put it down to tiredness. I put it down to lack of quality and lack of depth. Kelly and Bridges are woeful. Harte is struggling. Bowyer and Dacourt cannot slug their guts out twice a week at this level and remain fresh and effective.

Scores

Martyn 7 Made one unreal save. Otherwise bored out of his tiny worzel mind.

Kelly 4 If he was a racehorse, he'd be made into burgers.

Harte 5 So slow. I just can't believe how hot and cold this guy is.

Duberry 6 Did OK but got injured.

Radebe 7 Solid.

Bakke 5 Was he playing ? Must still be recovering.

Dacourt 6 Surprisingly ineffective

Bowyer 6 Looked out of sorts. Effort high, composure low.

Matteo 6 Not really in it. Missed a header to put us 2-up

Smith 6 Gave 100%, but will never hurt the opposition with his back to goal on the half-way line.

Bridges 4 F#**#*g useless. Tip-f#**#*g-tap football is not good enough.

Subs

Mills 6 Bald.

McFrail 10 Came on for the last minute and did nothing wrong at all.

3500 Leeds fans created a good atmosphere but Derby fans were their equal.

Today was a poor advert for the Premier League. Leeds were at best average. I'm so upset.

Reporter: Stotty