"I believe.." - Carlton Palmer makes Derby County promotion claim | OneFootball

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Pundit Carlton Palmer believes Derby County will still achieve automatic promotion to the Championship despite a slow start to the campaign.

The Rams were many people’s favourites for promotion this season, as League One wasn’t considered to be as competitive as the 2022/23 campaign.

Derby, along with Bolton Wanderers, were seen as the two strongest teams, and while the Trotters have lived up to those expectations, in the early parts of the season, Derby have struggled to do so.

Paul Warne’s side started the season with only three wins from their opening seven league games.

Then results against Cheltenham Town, Shrewsbury Town, and Stevenage in October saw pressure seriously mount on Warne as fans became restless.

However, the club’s hierarchy decided to stand by Warne, and it now seems they are reaping the rewards, as Derby have won three of their last four games and have won their last four home games, including the win over Barnsley.

The Rams have struggled to beat teams around them this season, but they put that to bed on Saturday as they ended Barnsley’s unbeaten away run in League One.

Derby came into the game sitting outside the play-off places, knowing they needed to win to keep up with the teams ahead of them.

Warne’s men stepped up to the occasion and put themselves ahead in the 35th minute thanks to James Collins’ goal from the penalty spot.

Then, three minutes after halftime, Derby doubled their lead as defender Craig Forsyth fired the ball home after sneaking into the area unmarked from a free kick.

The Rams cemented the win in the 63rd minute when Collins was on hand to slot the ball home after Forsyth’s shot was parred out by goalkeeper Ben Killip.

The three points leave Derby in seventh place on 27 points, level with Barnsley, who are just a single place above, and they remain eight points adrift of second-place Oxford United.

Does Carlton Palmer think Derby County’s win over Barnsley could be important in their promotion push?

Here, we asked pundit Carlton Palmer for his thoughts on Derby’s win over Barnsley on the weekend and if this result could be a springboard for a promotion push for the Rams and Paul Warne.

He told FLW: “I said along that expectation was the problem at Derby County.

“Everybody expected Derby County to be automatically promoted this season, including myself. I believe they still will, so the start of the season was not how Derby or Paul Warne would have envisaged it to be.

“There has to be patience here, three wins in their last four games and all of a sudden, the world looks rosier. They're now only nine points behind the league leaders Portsmouth, so it's game on.

“The bottom line is getting promoted, how you do it doesn’t really matter and Paul has a track record of doing it, but a confident three-nil win against Barnsley will do him and his team no harm whatsoever.”

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Can Paul Warne still lead Derby County to promotion?

A couple of weeks ago, most people would have expected Warne to be no longer the Derby manager, as results had really turned for the worst.

However, the club stood by the manager, and so far, it seems to have paid off, as results have improved and, therefore, Derby have climbed the League One table.

Saturday’s win against Barnsley could be a massive turning point in Derby’s season, as they have beaten a fellow promotion rival in comfortable fashion and now only sit a few points adrift of the automatic places.

Promotion to the Championship is well and truly on for Derby and Warne, and they will hope this result can be a springboard to success.