Derby County will spend another season in the Championship after their playoff hopes were ended with a 3-0 defeat to Reading at the iPro Stadium this afternoon.
On-loan Kwesi Appiah gave the visitors a perfect start when he broke clear of the Derby defence before calmly slotting home inside the first two minutes.
Raul Albentosa was appealing for a penalty when his shot struck the hand of a Reading defender, but the referee waved away the optimistic appeals.
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Derby were almost level when Tom Ince picked out Johnny Russell at the far post, but the latter couldn't find the target from close range before the half-hour mark.
Appiah almost claimed his second of the afternoon 10 minutes before the break when he headed Jem Karacan's effort just wide.
Darren Bent was afforded a great chance to level on the cusp of half time when Russell was fouled in the area, but the on-loan striker saw his penalty saved by Adam Federici.
Manager Steve McClaren sent his Derby players out five minutes before the beginning of the second half, but it was Reading who made the better start.
Appiah went close when fired Chris Gunter's low cross wide before Karacan almost snuck in behind the Rams' backline.
Michael Hector made it 2-0 on 72 minutes when he reacted quickest to a goalmouth scramble to side-foot home.
Bent was put clean through inside the final 10 minutes but he couldn't feed Chris Martin after he went round Federici who did well to narrow the angle.
Gareth McCleary then consigned the Rams to another season in the Championship when he netted from the penalty spot after Karacan had been brought down by Grant inside the final five minutes.
Paul Gorst
