Savage foe turns friends but he can't save Derby from another defeat

Thankfully, Savage took it well, having previously endured a sour relationship with Mills, not to mention the Derby fans. All appeared to have been forgiven as the controversial midfielder, signed from Blackburn for £2million, was made captain for his debut. He said: "Danny's a great lad. It was a bit of a laugh."

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Mills added: "Sometimes you have to break the ice. He's old enough to take it in the right way. We had a laugh and a joke about it.

"Football is strange nowadays. An awful lot of fun has gone out of it. It's very serious business. But Sav's great. He will make things happen. There is no point in football, or in life, waiting for things to happen because they never will. The more players like that we get in, the better."

Four years ago, Savage and Mills had their arms around each other's throats. Savage, then of Birmingham, had dived in with a dangerous tackle on Mills, who was playing for Middlesbrough.

But Mills said: "I've always said what happens on a football pitch, happens on a football pitch. As soon as the game is finished, it's gone. It's dead and buried.

So far we're getting on well. "He takes the pressure off me with away fans, too. Instead of getting booed for 90 minutes, it might be only 45 minutes now! If we get in bother on the pitch, I will be the first in there to back him up."

Savage — one of five new faces in the Derby side — was booed from his first touch by the Wigan fans. But the home support welcomed their former foe. "I didn't expect that," said a relieved Savage. "In the car with my wife beforehand I was a bit nervous about it."

Savage admitted he was exhausted after Saturday's match. 'I'm knackered,' said the 33-year-old midfielder, made captain despite his previously sour relationship with Derby fans .

'I was tired towards the end. I probably won't get my full fitness for another three or four weeks yet.'

Derby had struggled to cling on to 0-0 during the first half, and once Claude Davis was sent off in the 57th minute, after a second booking for a second reckless assault on Marcus Bent, the game slipped out of their reach.

Wigan substitute Antoine Sibierski eventually scored the winner in the 82nd minute with his first touch, a low drive from the edge of the penalty area. Sibierski, still not fully fit, said: 'I was really concentrating on scoring but, when you're on the bench, it's freezing and you can't feel your feet any more. I had a good warm-up and it helped me do well on my first touch.

'It was a good decision to leave me on the bench here, but now the manager has to make some choices and we have to respect them even if we don't agree with them. He's the boss.'

Manager Steve Bruce said: 'We should have been out of sight in the first half but thankfully we didn't get punished for our misses and the better team won.'