The Rams will drop to the third tier next term after they failed to secure their survival with three games to go

Derby County and manager Wayne Rooney will play in League One next season after the Rams were relegated from the Championship thanks to both their 1-0 loss to Queens Park Rangers and a superb Reading comeback for a 4-4 draw against Swansea.

The Rams headed into their Easter Monday clash knowing that they had to avoid defeat at Loftus Road and hope that the Royals woulld fail to tame the Swans elsewhere in the second tier.

But an 88th-minute Luke Amos goal and an injury-time dismissal for Tom Lawrence ended Rooney and company’s hopes of earning a result, while Tom McIntyre struck deep into stoppage time for Reading to seal a remarkable fightback that lifted them beyond Derby’s reach with three games to go.