Derby County secured an excellent victory on Sunday when they thrashed Blackburn Rovers 3-0 at Pride Park.

It was a win that meant that the Rams now have an opportunity of challenging for the top-six in the Championship, despite a less than impressive first-half of the season.

Here are THREE things we clearly learnt about Derby after their 3-0 win over Blackburn on Sunday...

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Not a one man team

This was one thing that a lot of other Championship supporters were thinking ever since Wayne Rooney joined the club and that's due to the 34-year-old playing the majority of games since his arrival in January.

On Sunday he missed out with injury, and the Rams were excellent throughout with everyone chipping in with a good performance in order to get the victory over a side that are above them in the table.

It shows that it's not just Rooney that makes them tick, and the upturn in form may be down to much more than just his arrival at the club. It'll be interesting to see if Phillip Cocu decides to bring the ex-Manchester United star straight back into the lineup, especially after such an impressive performance from some of the other midfielders.

Academy is Derby's future

The academy at Derby is a well-known excellent source of players, and they are really starting to prove that in this current Championship, especially when looking at the type of team Cocu opted for in the midweek clash against Manchester United in the FA Cup.

One youngster who started the game against Blackburn was Louie Sibley - the young Derby midfielder had an absolutely brilliant game in front of the Pride Park faithful and backed it up with a special moment as he scored from all of 30-yards on his first league start.

Chris Martin's still got it

Having been out in the cold at various clubs on loan for the last few seasons, Martin has come back and is once again playing a valuable part in a Derby campaign.

His goals yesterday showed to supporters that he can still be a threat, even if he doesn't start regularly, and it has given him a platform to build upon ahead of the close of this current season.

If they're to keep pushing up the table, then he could well be used continuously on different occasions and why not? If he is scoring goals then he deserves to play, and it wouldn't be a surprise to any Rams fans to see him start next weekend.