Sammie Szmodics' 100th league goal kept Derby firmly in the Championship play-off hunt thanks to a narrow 1-0 victory over relegation-threatened Portsmouth.
There have been rumours that Szmodics will be recalled to the Ireland squad by manager Heimir Hallgrimsson for this month's massive World Cup play-off against Czechia, and the 30-year-old did his chances no harm with an early goal.
It meant the Rams ended a three-match losing streak on the road and sit just three points outside the top six.
For Portsmouth, they lost a fourth-successive fixture at Fratton Park for the first time since the 2013/14 season, have not beaten Derby in 12 attempts and languish just a point above the drop zone.
Derby scored with the first proper chance of the game when Szmodics smashed the ball home from the middle of the penalty box.
Derry Murkin’s corner had been half-cleared by Jacob Brown but Szmodics controlled and fired in his second goal for the Rams – to the joy of Keith Downing, who replaced the suspended John Eustace on the touchline.
They almost doubled their lead in the 16th minute when Patrick Agyemang outpaced Regan Poole before slipping in Ben Brereton Diaz, who could not clip his effort over Nicholas Schmid.
Pompey, on the back of three home defeats, struggled to find a consistent rhythm in the match but dominated the shot count in the first half.
Millenic Alli’s blast forced a near-post save, Zak Swanson and Gustavo Caballero were unsuccessful with long-range shots, before Swanson saw a deflected effort ripple the side netting.
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Striker Brown gave Derby’s third-choice goalkeeper Richard O’Donnell his most heart-in-mouth moment with a drilled effort, which he collected at the second attempt.
But the quality in the match belonged to the visitors and they should have doubled their advantage moments before the break.
The lively Agyemang tore down the left beat his man and thumped a shot on target. Schmid could only turn the ball onto the post, with Szmodics slipping as he tried to tap it in.
Caballero went straight up the other end and forced O’Donnell into a smart save but that did not stop the home fans booing at half-time.
The second half followed a similar pattern as Ebou Adams scuffed a shot wide against his former club and Swanson had a free-kick nodded off the line by Murkin.
But the most convincing chance again fell for Derby as Szmodics hit the crossbar with a sensational free-kick from 20 yards.
Brown had a header caught, Alli dragged an effort wide and then skidded towards the near post as Pompey continued to increase their shot count to no avail.
They ultimately had 27 shots – their most this season – but only managed nine on target.
