Louie Sibley scored a hat-trick for Derby County yesterday, as they beat Millwall 3-2 in their return to Championship action.

Derby looked as though they were in for an arduous afternoon after Matt Smith put Millwall ahead on 15-minutes. But the 18-year-old Sibley equalised soon after, and would go on to score two more to hand Derby the win.

Jon Dadi Bodvarsson scored an injury time second for the home side, but it was too late to mount a comeback.

Max Bird took to Instagram after the game yesterday, and he shared this message for Sibley:

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He was the talk of the Championship yesterday. Sibley was given his chance in the Derby first-team by Phillip Cocu towards the end of last year, and would go on to make a handful of substitute appearances.

But he truly announced himself in the final game before the break, starting and scoring in Derby's 3-0 win over Blackburn back in March. The Derby academy graduate showed his prowess in-front of goal that game, and went above and beyond yesterday.

All three of his goals at The Den were proof of a fine finisher. It was an impressive hat-trick to say the least, and the win gets Derby off to a winning restart to the season, and lands them just three points from the top-six.

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The verdict

Derby have become genuine play-off contenders since the turn of the year, but there remains five teams between them and Preston in 6th.

The mid-table pack is as tight as it ever has been at this stage of the season, but Cocu and Derby will be eyeing a second-straight play-off finish, and Sibley could well be the man to fire them to just that.