Uncle Dean sees Sturridge spare Sven's blushes

The teenage striker, nephew of former Rams' star Dean, converted Martin Petrov's cross after a deflected own goal had put Paul Jewell within sight of his first victory.

Eriksson thus avoided an even redder face following his FA Cup exit at Sheffield United.

A minute into the second half, the balloon looked like going up again after Kenny Miller's hopeful shot took a huge deflection off Sun Jihai.

That feeling lasted just 20 minutes as the visitors successfully carried out a lightning counter-attack that had threatened to be their best source of a goal all evening. Unfortunately the majority of chances had fallen to Darius Vassell who was below-par.

But when Petrov delivered a cross for the umpteenth time into the area from the left, 18-year-old Sturridge was there to slot home. Uncle Dean, commentating on the game for local radio, smiled through gritted teeth.

Sun's deflected goal would have been the perfect start in front of the club's new owners. But it wasn't to be. Derby are still searching their first victory of any kind since mid-September.

To the credit of the stricken home club, at least their supporters kept faith following Monday's takeover. A healthy crowd turned up to greet new owner Andy Appleby, whose enthusiasm was conveyed in the matchday programme.

'Derby County will portray the image of this city around the world through the exploits and successes of its' football team,' he wrote. He must realise fulfilling that prophecy will be significantly more difficult than merely penning the words.

Andy Todd was relegated to the bench following Derby's FA Cup defeat by Preston and his replacement, Claude Davis, should have been punished for an error after just three minutes.

The big defender underhit a back-pass, leaving Vassell with clear sight of goal.

However, the striker screwed his shot well wide. Vassell was also beautifully set up on the quarter-hour by Petrov's first-time cross which was as good a delivery as one could wish to see. But the forward's first touch was shoddy and it allowed Darren Moore the time to block him.

Derby were clearly trying. But they were also low on confidence. Stephen Ireland's decision-making let him down at a crucial time and Vassell headed another cross from Petrov over. Moore then just about caught Vassell again as he streaked through. Eriksson had handed a first Premier League start to Sturridge, a reward for his goalscoring exploits at Bramall Lane. He was bright and inventive and it was a pity that the majority of chances had fallen to Vassell.

But as the match progressed, Derby played their way into it. Craig Fagan's run committed several City defenders and a neat turn on the ball allowed Robert Earnshaw to crack a shot on the turn that slammed into a post.