Derby County struck gold with Aston Villa transfer agreement despite looming disaster | OneFootball

The Rams signed the striker on loan in January 2015, and while he was superb, the rest of the team struggled.

Derby County headed into 2015 in an incredible position in the Championship, with Steve McClaren looking to right the wrongs of the 2013/14 play-off final and return his team to the Premier League automatically.

The Rams headed into the new year in third place, just three points behind league leaders AFC Bournemouth, with Ipswich Town separating the two.

Hopes were high that a strong January transfer window would hand the East Midlands outfit the advantage needed to win promotion back to the top flight after seven years out of the division, following their infamous relegation in the 2007/08 campaign.

McClaren and Derby quickly got to work on strengthening the squad, bringing in Ryan Shotton and Raul Albentosa to shore up the defence, while Tom Ince and Jesse Lingard joined on loan at the end of the window. However, his decision to sign a 12-time capped England international proved to be one of his best.

Darren Bent was excellent on loan for Derby County

Darren Bent spent the first half of the season on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion, but he made just two appearances before returning to Aston Villa.

The Rams took a risk and brought him in for the rest of the season, a move that paid off almost instantly as he scored twice after coming off the bench at home to Blackburn Rovers to hand his new side all three points after a disappointing late defeat to Nottingham Forest 10 days earlier.

Derby's form continued, with wins over Cardiff City and Bolton Wanderers before Bent returned to the scoresheet against Bournemouth in a 2-2 draw on the south coast - a result that looked as though it was going to be crucial in the promotion battle.

The former Tottenham Hotspur ace scored in his next two matches as the Rams battled away to stay in touch with the top two, and following a 1-0 win over Charlton Athletic at the end of February, McClaren's side returned to the top of the Championship table.

However, this was going to be short-lived, as Newcastle United started to show interest in Derby's manager and he was forced to turn the job down twice.

It was clear that the distraction was having an impact on the team's performances and results deteriorated quickly, starting with a 2-0 defeat away to Fulham at Craven Cottage just a week after going to the summit.

Darren Bent continued to score goals but disaster struck for Derby County

A hamstring injury saw the Rams' on-loan number 39 miss four games in March, and it was in this period that the situation at Pride Park got worse as Chris Martin also suffered an injury, leaving the team without an out-and-out striker.

A 2-0 lead over Birmingham City disappeared in the final moments to deny Derby a chance to return to the top of the league table and the situation started to get worse as wins became impossible to find.

Bent's return coincided with a slight upturn in form as he scored five goals in four games to help his team to their first two wins in two months, but a 4-0 victory over Blackpool in April 2015 proved to be their last of the season as they lost all momentum once again.

Derby welcomed Reading to Pride Park on the final day of the season knowing that a point would secure their place in the play-offs.

However, after the then 31-year-old missed a penalty at 1-0 to the Royals, the away team took advantage and scored twice more late on to end any hopes of Premier League football returning to DE24, in what was a destructive end to the campaign.

Bent had been one of few bright sparks in a year to forget for the Rams, joining the club permanently in the summer, but without McClaren, who had finally moved to Newcastle.