WALLACE SINKS OFF-KEY DERBY

FRANK LAMPARD may be the romantics’ choice to replace Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea but this was a match where his own dynamic brand of football failed to spark as Millwall inflicted a costly defeat. Derby have produced some scintillating performances under Lampard, yet this was a display to provoke insomnia before Jed Wallace struck a late Millwall winner with the game’s first shot on target. Lampard’s side missed the chance to go level with Middlesbrough in fifth and stay two points off Bristol City in the final play-off place. February has been a cursed month for Derby in recent years and 2019 looks like being no different, with one win in five so far. For Neil Harris, the result was huge comfort in Millwall’s battle against relegation, moving them five points clear of Rotherham in 22nd. Both teams were in FA Cup action at the weekend, so perhaps tired legs explained the lethargy. Harris’s team set up looking to keep a clean sheet and goalkeeper Jordan Archer did not have a save to make until stoppage time, when he pushed away a header by Fikayo Timori. There was evident tetchiness at Pride Park as Derby struggled. The only interest came in Ashley Cole starting his first game in the second tier since May 2000, two months before fellow defender Jayden Bogle was born. The match looked to be heading for the most tedious of 0-0s, but Millwall claimed a winner with 18 minutes left. Lee Gregory sent Wallace clear and his low, left-foot shot went through Kelle Roos. ‘We had lots of possession but we didn’t have enough imagination,’ said Lampard. Harris said: ‘It’s one of the best away performances in my time here.’