On the eve of his return as Derby boss, Steve McClaren apologised for the lack of commitment which led to his sacking in 2015

Steve McClaren began his second spell in charge of Derby County with victory against Leeds at the iPro Stadium.

The former England manager, in the Rams dugout for the first time in 17 months, guided Derby to their first league win at home this season just three days after returning to the club.

Substitute Johnny Russell lashed home the winner from a corner, scoring with the home side's first shot on goal.

For Leeds, Kyle Bartley and Marcus Antonsson both hit the woodwork.

McClaren's homecoming win moved Derby up to 19th in the table, with the East Midlands club now unbeaten in three matches since Nigel Pearson was initially suspended as Rams manager on 27 September.

Three managers have overseen Derby's three wins this season, with Pearson's only success coming in August before Chris Powell led them to victory at Cardiff just hours after being put in interim charge.

Scotland international Russell came off the bench to score his first goal of the season, with goalkeeper Rob Green unable to keep the ball out despite getting a touch on the low shot.

Bartley headed against the bar with Leeds' best effort before the break and Antonsson curled against the post in second-half injury time as Garry Monk's side suffered a second successive away defeat.

Matej Vydra had the ball in the back of the net for a refreshed Derby side after the break following a Bradley Johnson through ball, but his effort was flagged offside.

Johnny Russell scored 10 goals for Derby last season

Derby manager Steve McClaren:

"I think you could see the nervousness of the players but amongst that nervousness the players showed fight; the attitude was great and we got some great blocks in at the end.

"We worked our socks off and we needed that second goal. The last 10 minutes was always going to be nervous, but we rode our luck and got through it and it was a big three points.

"We said we need to put a marker down at five o'clock and we have done. I saw certain aspects I like and potential in the team but there is a lot of work, and a long way to go but if the players have that attitude and fight, I have no complaints.

"That's what we said at the beginning not just at half-time, what do the supporters want to see, they want to see your fight, attitude, tackles and I think the players did that."

Leeds head coach Garry Monk:

"I said to the players at half-time that we need to put our game on the pitch a little bit better and we came out and we started to do that and then we conceded a poor goal from our point of view which put us on the back foot.

"We had a go in the last 25 minutes and had a couple of chances, but overall I think we didn't do enough of the things we have done really well in recent games with the ball to give ourselves the best chance of getting something.

"We probably deserved something from the game but it's one of those where you probably can't complain that you didn't.

"We hit the woodwork a couple of times and were probably the wrong side of those margins, but the pleasing thing for me is we are still very competitive in games and were fighting for the result right up to the very end."