interviewed, though the national media heavily linked Aston Villa assistant manager John Terry, with Rooney second favourite, whilst other sources, such as podcaster Ian McGarry, claimed they had not heard Terry's name mentioned. Rooney claimed his first win as Derby boss as Jason Knight scored a 69th-minute winner at Millwall to give Derby a first victory in two months and twelve matches to take them off the bottom and to within two points of Nottingham Forest in 21st. The run of five points from three games saw Rooney overtake Terry to become the bookmaker's favourite for the position, with former-England manager Sam Allardyce (who instead replaced Slaven Bilić at West Bromwich Albion) and Burnley boss Sean Dyche being newly linked to the role. Rooney strengthened his claims by extending his unbeaten start to six games with a 0–0 draw away to Brentford being followed with a 0–0 draw at home to Stoke City (in which Derby were controversially denied a penalty for a foul on Lee Buchanan, about which ex-Premier League referee Mark Halsey said that Derby had "every reason to be unhappy.") and a first home win in thirteen attempts with a 2–0 win over Swansea City, which moved The Rams level on points with 20th placed Rotherham United, though still in the bottom three on goal difference. Rotherham were due to be the next opponents, but the match at the New York Stadium was postponed 90-minutes before kick-off due to a COVID-19 outbreak in Rotherham's squad. Derby's unbeaten run ended in the following game as they fell to a boxing day home defeat to Preston North End; a sixth home defeat meaning they had already lost more home games than in the previous two seasons despite only having played eleven out of twenty-three home ties. Despite the defeat, Derby ended the year outside the relegation zone after a 4–0 win away to Birmingham City - Derby's biggest away win since a 4–0 win at the same opponents on 26th December 2014 - took them up to 20th and three points clear of relegation with a game in hand. Academy graduate Kaide Gordon's appearance as a substitute made him the fourth-youngster player in club history. Derby's upturn in form was tempered by the news that Curtis Davies, who had been stretchered off in the 65th-minute in the draw at Brentford, had suffered an injury to his achilles and would