Derby County’s hopes of promotion were boosted on Saturday after their 3-2 victory over fellow play-off hopefuls Reading.

The Rams went behind thanks to John Swift, however Darren Bent cancelled out the early goal before half-time.

Steve McClaren’s side then took a two-goal lead in the second-half with goals coming from Tom Ince and Will Hughes.

Yakou Meite pulled a goal back for the Royals, but his first-ever club career goal proved to be only a consolation.

The win for County puts them within two points of the play-off places after three of the top six teams in the league lost at the weekend.

Since Steve McClaren returned to the iPro Stadium in October, the Rams have picked up 11 victories and three draws in their 17 matches.

Their only defeats in the last three months have come against Huddersfield Town, Norwich City and Leeds United.

Shoot! looks at three reasons why Derby County will get promoted this season…

Steve McClaren

The Rams had a very poor start to the season, and under Nigel Pearson, they seemed destined for relegation.

After Pearson’s departure in October, McClaren was re-appointed and he has certainly made his mark since returning to the East Midlands.

Since McClaren’s first game back in charge at home to Leeds United, The Rams have picked up 33 points out of a possible 48 in the league.

The former England manager has The Rams showing fight and character that previous managers such as Pearson were unable to do.

The revival has seen them move from 20th to seventh in the league table and if they can continue this super vein of form, Derby have a very good chance of making the play-offs and gaining promotion because of it.

Defensive Record

Derby’s defensive record has been very impressive this season. They have conceded the second least amount of goals in the Championship – the same amount as Newcastle United.

Only Brighton and Hove Albion have conceded fewer goals in the league.

McClaren’s side have only conceded 21 times in their 27 league games this season with 11 of those coming in the former Manchester United assistant manager’s 16 league games in charge.

County’s defence has been incredible since their managerial change and they have kept 10 clean sheets in their last 16 league games.

The defence are led by captain Richard Keogh, which manager McClaren has labelled as, “the best centre back in the Championship” – a massive label for a vital defender.

If County can keep picking up clean sheets in the fashion that they are, then they have a very good chance of gaining promotion in May.

Tom Ince

The son of ex-England international Paul has been an instrumental figure for Derby this season.

The winger has scored nine league goals and set up three more in his 26 Championship appearances this term.

This means that the 24-year-old has directly contributed to 44 per cent of The Rams’ league goals this season.

If Ince can keep playing to match his own high standards, he may be able to guide his side to their first Premier League campaign since the 2007/08 season.