to Parkhead. He continued his fine form, notably in Celtic's epic UEFA Cup defeat of FC Barcelona, was in the starting eleven in the Cup Final and won the Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year award for the 2003–04 season. Pearson was unable to match these achievements in 2004–05. He increased his international tally to six caps, but his first team opportunities were limited by injury, and he played just nine games for Celtic that season. The 2005–06 season saw little improvement as he made only three starting appearances in a relatively injury-hit season. In January 2006 he held talks with manager Gordon Strachan, who reassured him as to his future with the club. Pearson did however make 17 substitute appearances and scored a crucial goal against Hearts at Tynecastle as Celtic came from behind to win 3–2. Though Pearson had been involved in two Scottish Premier League-winning campaigns with Celtic, he struggled to hold down a regular place. English Championship side Derby County, managed by his former Motherwell manager Billy Davies, made a bid of £600,000 in August 2006, but Strachan said he was not for sale. The departure of Stiliyan Petrov to Aston Villa gave Pearson an opportunity to regain a place in the Celtic midfield and, despite rumours of a move away from Celtic Park, he went on to score the third goal against Benfica in the group stages of the 2006–07 Champions League, to take the score to 3–0. He described this goal as "the moment of my career". Derby County Pearson eventually signed a three-and-a-half-year deal for Derby on 10 January 2007 for a fee of £750,000. and made his debut in a 1–0 win against Sheffield Wednesday, which put Derby level on points at the top of the division. A latter season drop in form saw the club finish in third place and having to compete in the playoffs. Pearson played a key role in Derby's success, winning a penalty in a 2–1 win over Southampton in the semi-final first leg and then scoring the winning goal, his first for the club, as Derby ran out 1–0 winners over West Bromwich Albion in the 2007 Championship playoff final. Pearson's strike has been described as "the £60 million goal", such is the perceived value of promotion from the Championship to the Premier League. Derby struggled badly following promotion and, after a promising beginning to