Prospective Derby County owner Chris Kirchner has hailed the "pure grit" shown by Wayne Rooney's side in their 3-2 win against promotion hopefuls Bournemouth yesterday.

Kirchner appears the frontrunner to buy the East Midlands club and is understood to still be keen despite the news last week that Derby had been handed a second points penalty, which means they have now been deducted 21 points this season and are very likely to get relegated.

Rooney's side hosted the Cherries at Pride Park yesterday in their first game since the news broke.

Bournemouth were unbeaten on the road in 2021/22 heading into Sunday's meeting at Pride Park but it was the hosts that took the lead through Jason Knight.

Kelle Roos' mistake allowed Jaidon Anthony to level before Dominic Solanke gave Bournemouth the lead heading into the break.

But two goals in seven second-half minutes from captain Tom Lawrence turned the game on its head and the Rams were able to hold on to secure the win and move out of negative points.

The performance and result certainly seems to have impressed Kirchner, who took to Twitter to hail the fight shown by the side after the game.

The Verdict

Rooney and his players deserve a huge amount of credit for Sunday's game as they bounced back from the news of the second points deduction in the best possible way.

Staying in the Championship still looks out of reach but there is a long way to go this season.

If nothing else, finishing the 2021/22 campaign strongly should give them some momentum next term and may convince some of their players to stick around.

Fans will have loved to see Kirchner praising the Rams' grit after the game and the performance against the Cherries will have been hugely encouraging for the American businessman.

His takeover being completed before January would be massive for the club as it may help them to keep hold of some of their talented youngsters.