NATHAN Tyson might not welcome the tag "super-sub" but the striker's contribution in recent weeks has bagged Derby County valuable points to keep them in the top half of the Championship.
Starts have been rare for Tyson this season – only three in the League – and he has had to make the most of his appearances from the bench.
He came on to score a late winner at Ipswich last month and hit a 90th-minute screamer in the home win against Barnsley earlier this month.
And Tyson was at it again on Saturday.
On for Theo Robinson, he plundered a winning goal from close range in a dramatic see-saw finish to a cracking contest with Birmingham City at Pride Park.
Derby twice went ahead with goals from Conor Sammon only for the visitors to equalise through Marlon King and Peter Lovenkrands, before Tyson popped up inside the six-yard box to give the Rams a 3-2 victory.
Tyson's effectiveness as a substitute is clear but he wants more starts and he has provided a strong case to line up against Cardiff City when the leaders visit tomorrow night.
Derby's home record deserves respect. It is the fifth best in the division.
Eighteen of their 26 points have come at Pride Park. They have won five and drawn three of nine matches. Their only defeat was against Burnley, a loss that could easily have been avoided.
When they start quickly and maintain a good tempo, they are a handful for opponents, as we saw in the first half against Birmingham.
A rain-soaked pitch glistened under the floodlights and added zip to the proceedings as Derby got at Birmingham from the off.
From a 4-4-2 base, a formation that suits at home, although not always in away matches, Derby raided down both flanks.
The right-side combination of John Brayford and Paul Coutts clicked into gear and Michael Jacobs replicated the positive approach on the left.
Jacobs had a big hand in Derby's opening goal after 32 minutes.
He cut between Chris Burke and Jonathan Spector and his vicious low drive from 20 yards gathered pace off the wet surface. Jack Butland did very well to turn it on to his near post and the ball looped up to Sammon, who headed in from 10 yards.
Replays showed Sammon was a yard or two offside when Jacobs shot. Was he active or not? To be honest, after Millwall's first goal against the Rams was allowed to stand the other week, Derby deserved the break.
Will Hughes smoothed passes around midfield and his composure in possession and ability to dictate play is wonderful to watch. There is almost an air of disbelief when the 17-year-old misplaces a pass.
His midfield partner, Craig Bryson, was back to his usual self after a low-key couple of games and he wasted a chance to double Derby's lead nine minutes before the break. Smart work by Coutts and Brayford created the opportunity but Bryson lifted his shot over from a good position.
Back came the Rams and Jacobs collected his second yellow card in as many games for simulation, the referee believing the winger went to ground too easily as he drove into the area.
Derby's centre-backs, Jake Buxton and Richard Keogh, reacted well to their difficult afternoon against Crystal Palace.
They kept the tall Nikola Zigic and the in-form King quiet in the first half and goalkeeper Adam Legzdins was barely troubled other than when Wade Elliott's attempt from a tight angle found the side netting.
Birmingham improved in the second half and while Derby appeared to go into their shell, it was probably more down to an increase in urgency from their opponents, whose attacking threat went up a notch or two following the introduction of the lively Robert Hall, who is on loan from West Ham United.
His low shot fizzed narrowly past the far post as the visitors pressed but Robinson should have eased Derby's anxiety just after the hour.
Set free in the box by Bryson's pass, Robinson's rising left-foot shot cleared the bar when the better option might have been to have kept the ball low, given the saturated pitch.
Hughes strode forward and stung the hands of Butland before Birmingham drew level after 73 minutes.
Buxton's attempted interception was the not the best and allowed Hall to run at Keogh in the area. Hall went down under the Rams skipper's challenge and in real time, it looked a penalty. How much contact there was is difficult to say but Keogh got none of the ball and did not help himself by going to ground.
It is the third penalty awarded against Keogh in the last six games and King confidently sent Legzdins the wrong way from the spot. King has scored 11 this season and seven in his last seven games.
He was inches away from another when his shot deflected off Keogh and back off the face of the bar and Derby were rocking.
But Nigel Clough has moulded a determined group of players and they regained the lead 10 minutes from time after a second key decision went their way.
Birmingham should have been awarded a free kick when Hughes pulled back King. The referee failed to spot it and Gareth Roberts arrowed a diagonal ball on to the head of Buxton, who had stayed up following a set-piece. He nodded down into the path of Sammon, who took a touch and dispatched a shot from 12 yards wide of Butland.
The left-foot finish was somewhat scuffed but Sammon did not care and his goals capped a strong-running performance from the centre forward.
His second goal bridged a two-year gap because the last time he scored two in a game was for Kilmarnock against Rangers in November 2010.
The contest lurched from one end to the other and the supporters lapped it up.
Birmingham responded and equalised for a second time after 82 minutes.
Bryson and Jacobs did not do enough to prevent Spector curling in a fine centre and another of the substitutes, Lovenkrands, nipped between Roberts and Buxton to send a lovely deft header wide of Legzdins' right hand.
Derby have conceded seven goals in their last three games and 26 for the season. They need to tighten up a touch with Cardiff City and Leicester City to play this week.
Awful weather conditions added to Saturday's drama and you felt there would be a final twist and turn to the roller coaster ride.
It came two minutes later from a beautifully-constructed Derby move.
Brayford and Coutts linked again and Coutts rolled the ball to Hughes on the edge of the area. The youngster's perfectly-weighted pass meant Jacobs did not have to break stride before he delivered a first-time cross low into the six-yard box, where Tyson turned the ball past Butland for his fifth goal of the season.
Sammon was waiting behind Tyson for a tap-in and a hat-trick.
Asked if he thought about shoving Tyson out of the way, Sammon smiled: "It happens that quickly, you're not looking around to see who else can put it in. A striker's instinct is just to score goals and Nathan put it away and it got us three points."
Only Palace have scored more goals at home than Derby, who have now won three League games in a row at Pride Park. The last time they did that was in January.
The top six could be tantalisingly close should they make it four on the spin tomorrow.
