Tom Ince’s dramatic late winner saw Derby County extend their sublime winning run in the Sky Bet Championship as they put a real shift in to defeat Queens Park Rangers 1-0 in the Capital.

The 24-year-old wideman struck with just four minutes remaining as he sweetly tucked away Abdoul Camara’s cross to send the travelling Rams contingent into raptures in the away end.The victory extended Derby’s winning run in the league to seven matches as they lifted themselves back into the play-off positions with 21 games played.As big as a defining factor as Ince’s seventh goal of the season was, this latest three points boiled down to the fine defensive shift that was put in by the whole squad as Steve McClaren’s men also notched a fifth straight clean sheet as the incredible statistics continue to tumble.There was also a fine save from Scott Carson early doors as Queens Parks Rangers, coming into the contest on the back of three successive league defeats, started brightly.The lively Tjaronn Chery was the man with the effort as he attempted an audacious drive from the edge of the area and struck with power, it appeared almost certain to find the back of the net – however, an excellent reaction from the Derby ‘keeper ensured that the honours remained even.Continuing in the same vein, it was only seven minutes later that QPR were knocking at the door again. This time through Connor Washington who broke into the Rams’ box only to send his effort straight into the arms of Carson.Despite a sharp start from the Hoops, Derby thought they had found an early breakthrough, but Ince’s early effort was chalked off for offside after he was smartly picked out by Andreas Weimann – making his first league start of the campaign.Aside from a few half-chances, It wasn’t until the 39th minute that opportunities began to take form and it did in QPR’s favour after mix-up amongst Derby’s midfield allowed Yeni Ngbakoto to attempt a long range effort. Carson took no chances though and safely tipped the ball over the bar and out of play.In what was end to end stuff, on 40 minutes, the action was at the other end of the pitch after Ince managed to wriggle into the area, beating a handful of players while doing so, but he didn’t get the better of Alex Smithies.The second half was a tougher battle than the first for Derby as the R’s upped the ante with the words of Ian Holloway ringing in their ears.Their early flurry of efforts were constricted to from range as Derby’s defence continued to show their strength at the back – guarding their clean sheet fiercely.Just before the hour mark, the hosts were presented with their best opportunity of the second half as Carson spilled an initial effort from Chery’s, before quick pressure prevented Massimo Luongo from burying the follow up.As the game approaching its business end, a quick-fire counter attack almost caught the hosts out after Carson hoofed the ball down the field to Ince, but off balance he could only shoot wide – it would only be a matter of time before he did strike the winner.Before that, however, QPR really looked to turn on the pressure and almost broke the deadlock on 82 minutes after Luongo’s forceful shot was deflected out of play.With time running out and with the contest destined for a draw, Derby’s hard work was rewarded after Ince made the most of substitute Abdoul Camara’s cross - rifling a magnificent shot into the back of the net.It was a goal the proved to be just enough as excellent game management allowed the Rams to see out the remainder of the game to record their seventh successive win. The run goes on.Smithies, Bidwell, Hall, Onuoha, Lynch, Cousins (Shodipo, 77), Washington (Polter, 69), Chery (Gladwin, 64), Luongo, Ngbakoto, PerchIngram, Borysiuk, Wszolek, SandroCarson, Baird, Keogh (C), Pearce, Olsson; Johnson, Butterfield, Hughes (Bryson, 79), Ince, Weimann (Camara, 79), Bent (Vydra, 63)Mitchell, Shackell, Russell, Hanson12,371 (1,043 away supporters)Tweets by @ dcfcofficial