Derby County would have been content with their 12th-place finish in the Championship last season, if they could press on and improve during the current campaign.
Under Nigel Clough, they have achieved stability as a Championship club but with a ground holding in excess of 30,000 people, there would be ambitions to make the playoffs at the end of the season.
The summer of 2012 saw them acquire players that had been made available by clubs who had been relegated from the Championship with Coventry and Doncaster Rovers, with Richard Keogh and James O'Connor joining the payroll at Pride Park.
Here, Sports Mole looks back at the effort of the Rams to break into the top six of the Championship table.
August
Derby began the season with a 2-2 draw at home to Sheffield Wednesday before Bolton Wanderers scored two late goals to beat the Rams 2-0.
A late fightback at Molineux saw Theo Robinson net a late equaliser to earn County a 1-1 draw.
September
Seventeen-year-old Will Hughes netted his first goal for Derby as they earned their first win of the season in superb style with a 5-1 triumph over Watford.
In what became a trend for the month of September, County went on to lose their next game at Huddersfield Town before hitting back to defeat Charlton Athletic.
A late Charlie Austin goal saw Derby lose 2-1 at home to Burnley before they responded with a 1-0 win at East Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest.
October
Paul Coutts scored three minutes from time as Derby drew 2-2 at Middlesbrough and three days later, it was the same outcome as they fought out a stalemate with Brighton & Hove Albion.
Robinson scored a late equaliser to secure another draw, this time against Blackburn Rovers, before the Rams sealed their first victory in four games by beating Ipswich Town.
However, they were brought back down to earth when Peterborough produced a dominant performance to defeat Derby 3-0.
November
Derby began November by blitzing Blackpool 4-1 before O'Connor and Nathan Tyson netted to earn County a 2-0 win over Barnsley.
The Rams were beginning to establish themselves as a realistic contender for a place in the playoffs but they suffered a double blow in losing to Millwall and Crystal Palace.
However, they hit back to record a thrilling 3-2 victory over Birmingham City before they ended the month with a respectable point against Cardiff City.
December
East Midland neighbours condemned Leicester City condemned Derby to a 4-1 defeat at the start of December before County responded with a 3-1 win over Leeds.
A 2-0 win over struggling Bristol City saw Derby into the top 10 but Hull City inflicted just the second home defeat of the season on the Rams with a 2-1 triumph.
Derby suffered a second successive defeat when they lost 2-0 at Burnley on Boxing Day.
Darren Plant
