Oh for 2013 to continue. 2nd in the table, taking on all comers, reeling in that team from down the M1 that no-one cares about on our route to Championship domination. Macca to be given the freedom of Derby and copious amounts of iPro to be sprayed in celebration.

Instead, we are still without a win in 2014 after our miraculously run to the title was de-railed.

Joking aside, Wigan came to do a job on us. An ugly, messy job which ultimately paid off.

The swirling wind and that fine rain that wets you through would, one would have imagined, have suited our playing style to a tee, with the slick surface surely able to aid our passing game.

After just about stomaching a pre-match pint, I too was glad of a little moisture to freshen up and blow away any lingering cobwebs picked up as Big Ben struck twelve the night before. However, this didn’t seem to translate to the pitch, with the first exchanges littered with wayward passes, leaving the bloke behind me convinced that some of the squad had been on the ‘naughty sauce.’

One noticeable tactic from the visitors was how high up the pitch they were pressing us, with Buxton and Eustace in particular given little time on the ball.

This should have led to the opening goal, as a terrible pass from the edge of his own box by Eustace was intercepted and Powell bore down on Grant, only to horribly screw his shot wide. A let off but still we looked content to take chances.

And still we looked a yard short of our best.

Going forwards was a struggle, with only Russell showing glimpses of class in the early going. At times, I did question whether we were playing Wigan Warriors, with Rosler’s men content on playing hoofball in the extreme, causing problems with the swirling wind. Finally we got into a decent position, with Hughes’ flick to Wisdom resulting in a corner.

On the other side, Forsyth’s inviting low cross was too close to Al-Habsi. A comical moment came when Ramis, already incensing the crowd following a feigned injury, was tripped by Bryson off the ball, only for the officials to see nothing. The subsequent waving of arms around was like that of a petulant child that you’ve just told you’re not buying a toy. He was replaced soon after.

The midfield battle was eagerly contested, with Hughes looking his comfortable self when, fleetingly, we gave him the ball. It was Wigan on top though as Boyce headed a speculative free kick over, before the game’s most contentious period.

More sloppiness from the Rams enabled Powell to burst into the penalty area, beat two men and get the wrong side of the back-tracking Russell, to then go down under his challenge. My vantage point was, admittedly, not the best, but it looked a fair shout to me. Not so in the mind of the referee, who booked the United youngster for diving.

Within a couple of minutes, Russell was maliciously body-checked, with the ref playing ‘advantage’ only to see Bryson crunched near the touch-line. Farcically, he again waved play-on as the ball dropped to Martin, who was surrounded by three Wigan men with his support nursing their respective blows.

Somehow, when play was finally stopped, neither foe was booked, leaving me to speculate if the official had sent the majority of his cards at Christmas.

Wigan continued to dominate in the latter stages of the half. McArthur was unlucky to see a dipping shot fly just over following a corner with Grant beaten. The referee was again quickly making little friends inside the i-Pro after Russell was clattered in an aerial challenge, only for the man in black to award a drop-ball, much to everyone with functioning eyes’ disgust.

There was still time for Espinoza, who was being treated to the retro, ‘where’s your caravan?’ chant to shoot wide in another clear opening for the F.A cup holders. Half-time and we hadn’t mustered a single effort, with Ward in particular very poor.

As the teams re-emerged, Hendrick replaced Bryson, still struggling with a knock from the win at Oakwell. The half began much like the first, with Wigan striving to stop us playing, with numerous niggly fouls making the game fractious. Still, it was a game where you found yourself thinking that if we were to score first, then we would go on to win.

However, as the old adage goes, if you don’t shoot you don’t score and we had still yet to test Al-Habsi.

Martin was isolated and in fairness, well-shackled but we needed a spark. Russell was doing his best to provide it, twisting and turning and showing pace to boot before being clattered by Beausejour at the result of an eventual and long overdue card.

Keane and Buxton were marshalling the defence well, with the latter again showing his much-improved distribution. A few corners aside though, we had offered very little as an attacking threat, and it came as no surprise to see Dawkins replace Ward.

Although on saying this, it did seem to surprise Jamie, with his petulant response to being hooked surely not going amiss from Steve’s watching glare.

The change was obviously intended to galvanise our lacklustre display but within four minutes, the visitors were in front. Dreadful defending from a corner allowed McManaman and Beausejour double up on Dawkins, before the latter smashed an unstoppable shot through the crowd into the roof of the net.

An extremely poor goal defensively, given the fact that the goal-scorer could have waited until next Christmas before he was able to shoot.

No time was wasted by our head-coach as Sammon was immediately introduced in place of Eustace. The time was 70 minutes and suddenly, we began to play. Dawkins had lit the blue-touch paper, showing neat glimpses of his obvious talent and at last the ball was skipping off the turf to a white shirt.

Sammon’s introduction had given us another option and it was he who provided our first chance. Springing the offside trap, the ex-Wigan man pulled a cross back to Dawkins, who dipped inside a challenge inside the box. With the goal at his mercy and with me halfway out of my seat, only a last-ditch block saw the ball deflect wide.

Next, Russell embarked on a lung-bursting run, steaming down the left to the by-line and crossing, only for the ball to hit Martin and trickle through to the keeper. That looked to be the last action for the Scot, with the Rams temporarily down to ten as he received intensive treatment.

No matter though as Wigan were content to dig in, resisting many decent opportunities to spring a counter as we pressed. Hughes then finally tested Al-Habi, his skimming shot parried to Sammon who chose to shoot instead of crossing from a tight angle. Russell was gingerly back into the fray, but with one leg and a woozy head, he was still looking a threat.

Another wonderful chance came from his corner, which was fizzed onto the head of Keane. He should have done better, as should Dawkins, who just couldn’t rearrange his legs in time to tap in. In fairness, the pace on the ball made it a tricky chance, but on another day, maybe in 2013, we would have been celebrating.

The referee continued to irk, with Wigan happy to milk every stoppage in play to time waste, at times ridiculously. This was at the great annoyance of everybody, particularly a portly gentleman behind me, whose comments about the official’s mother will stay in my head and not on this page.

As time ticked by, we had time for one, glorious chance. The move of the game saw Dawkins play a wonderful ball in behind the full-back for Wisdom to cross-first time. White shirts were queuing up; surely we had wrestled a point out of the frustration? Not so, as Martin somehow squirmed his shot wide in the middle of the area.

Aside from more time-wasting and a few, Wigan-esque long balls, that was that. A frustrating and annoying start to 2014. Quite what some morons were booing at come full-time though is anyone’s guess.

One can only hope it was at the display of the officials, whose respective performances came straight from the Stuart Atwell Guide to Refereeing. The bottom line is though that you can’t start playing at 70 minutes and expect to win football matches.

We must learn also how to deal with the Wigan’s of the league, teams content on stopping us playing rather than playing themselves.

That said, for me it was just a case of a game too-far for some over the Christmas period. The key now is how we respond in what could be a month defining season.

Who will we keep?

Who will we lose?

They could be the things that define our 2014.

Weston’s Player Ratings:

Lee Grant:Little he could do with the goal, but looked ok in difficult conditions. Kicking looks secure — 6

Craig Forsyth: Didn’t get forwards as much as he would have liked but looked good in the air. A little wasteful at times — 6

Andre Wisdom: Solid once again. Very unlucky to not set up an equaliser — 6

Jake Buxton: Apart from very nearly gifting a goal in the first half, another assured display from the stand-in skipper. Looking forward to seeing him battle Torres on Sunday - 7

Michael Keane: Impressive display from the United loanee. Pleased to have him secured until the end of the month. Looks better and fitter with each game — 7

Craig Bryson: Normal busy self, put himself about well. Didn’t look injured but replaced at half-time — 6

John Eustace: Solid in the tackle but guilty of giving cheap possession away too frequently. Must improve when playing under pressure — 6

Will Hughes: Looked good when given the ball. Difficult to create a spark with no matches though! — 6

Jamie Ward: Disappointing again. Too many mis-controlled situations. Looked petulant and his reaction to being subbed was pathetic. Sort it out Jamie! - 5

Johnny Russell: The one man who looked likely throughout. Lots of clever exchanges, quality control and vision. Shame more weren’t up to his standard. Brave to continue with concussion Weston’s Star Man - 8

Chris Martin: Possibly a game too far over Christmas but did look good when the ball was passed into feet. Would have probably preferred more support up top but if things ain’t broken, don’t fix them! — 6

Subs

Jeff Hendrick: Still working his way back. Looked ok in spells with bursting runs — 6

Connor Sammon: Gave us another option up top. Looked lively and produced another honest cameo. Is he Sheffield Utd bound though? — 6

Simon Dawkins: The spark that Jamie Ward failed to provide. Energetic, skilful half-hour. Perhaps should have started. But hindsight is wonderful! — 7

Match Reaction:

We said - Derby manager Steve McClaren:

"We were done by a sucker punch and Wigan came to stop us playing and frustrate us. It was going to be one of those games and I said at half-time it would be won or lost on a set play. Wigan will say they did a great job on Derby and we have to make sure we pay greater attention to details. But at the end of the day, we've had good fortune over the recent months and won games when maybe we could have drawn or lost so I've got no complaints.”

“We really came to life in terms of chances in the last 15 minutes and we could have had two or three goals. The opportunities were there for us and we can’t complain because we’ve had good fortune in recent weeks, but today it just wasn’t our day”

They said - Wigan Boss Uwe Rosler

“We had a game plan and played differently than they expected us to. We decided not to play our passing game and wanted to have a high line and I think it worked very well - we had more attempts on goal and the better chances in the first half. The substitution played a part in the goal and it was great individual skill from Beausejour. He's a player we can use in all positions on the left-hand side and he showed today why he is probably going to the World Cup.”

"What I didn't like so much was the last 10 minutes when we allowed them to run with the ball and they had two massive chances. Overall, they had more possession but we had more attempts on target and I think we deserved to win the game."

Match Info:

Ref: Mr. D.Webb (inept)

Crowd: 26,740 (inc. 835 ecstatic lactics)

The Rams: Grant, Wisdom, Keane, Buxton, Forsyth, Eustace (Sammon, 71), Hughes, Bryson (Hendrick, 46), Ward (Dawkins, 65), Russell, Martin.

Unused Rams: Legzdins (gk), Whitbread, Cisse, Bennett.

Lactics: Al Habsi, Boyce, Barnett, Ramis (Crainey, 29), Perch, McArthur, McCann, Espinoza (McManaman, 68), Powell, Fortune (Kiernan, 75), Beausejour.

Unused Subs: Pollitt (gk), Gomez, McClean, Holt.

Match Video Highlights / Reaction:

Photo: Action Images

Derby County Polls