They were only making plans for Nigel, only trying to make a positive impression on the young man who had begun the week in charge of Burton Albion, but after an evening when a sleeping giant stirred inside a pulsating Pride Park, Derby County and their long-suffering supporters may have to start planning for a trip to Wembley.

Call it the Clough effect if you like, but if Nigel, son of the late, great Brian, is to lead his new team out at Wembley for the Carling Cup final on March 1, it will be with a large debt of gratitude to David Lowe, the head of academy coaching and manager for the evening, and to the players who humbled and, at times, embarrassed Manchester United.

They will have to come through a daunting second leg at Old Trafford on January 20 if that is to be the case — and Sir Alex Ferguson, highly critical of his players’ lamentable efforts last night, will demand a huge improvement from United — but it no longer seems quite so unlikely after Kris Commons, with a spectacular first-half goal, got Derby’s new era — the Second Coming of Clough, as some are already calling it — off to the perfect start.

This was a joyous night for Derby, who have had precious little to shout about in the past 18 months, and with their new manager looking on from the directors’ box, their only slight regret was that their place in the final was not already secured. Even after Ferguson sent on Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney in the second half last night, Derby had enough chances to settle the issue, with Rob Hulse squandering the easiest of them from six yards with ten minutes remaining.

United’s players might have felt that they had got off lightly under the circumstances, until they walked straight into a tongue-lashing from Ferguson in the dressing-room. “The positive is that we only lost 1-0,” Ferguson said afterwards. “That’s a fantastic result for us, considering how we played. We could have lost by four goals. We were over-worried about their crossing and their set-piece plays.”

Nemanja Vidic and Jonny Evans had a torrid evening in defence, with Hulse causing them all manner of problems, but United were second-best in every department and, tellingly, Ferguson exempted Darron Gibson, 21, and Danny Welbeck, 18, from criticism.

Less exempt, one suspects, are Paul Scholes, who allowed himself to be outmanoeuvred by Paul Green and Miles Addison in midfield, and the exotically talented trio of Nani, Anderson and Carlos Tévez, who looked as if they felt affronted to be asked to lower themselves to a Carling Cup tie against a struggling Coca-Cola Championship team. If Tévez owed Ferguson a performance after complaining about the hold-up in his contract negotiations, that debt grew as he allowed himself to be eclipsed by the towering Lewin Nyatanga.

The defender was one of several Derby heroes, but this was above all a collective effort, albeit embellished by a moment of rare individual skill. Commons has not lived up to the potential he showed as a teenager at Stoke City, but his talent has never been in doubt. Collecting a pass from Mile Sterjovski 30 yards from goal, he unleashed a stunning shot that flew inside a post, leaving Tomasz Kuszczak clutching at thin air. Clough applauded nonchalantly, as if this was the type of thing he had been accustomed to seeing from his players at Burton, but the home fans were less restrained.

Derby’s players, though, had sensed vulnerability in their opponents from an early stage. Twice in the opening minutes they had threatened with high balls into the penalty area. It was pretty basic stuff from Derby, but they gained in confidence as the game wore on, knocking the ball around with the confidence expected of their opponents. Things picked up slightly with the introduction of Ronaldo and Rooney, but only slightly. Ronaldo, wearing lime green boots, came close with a dipping, swerving free kick, but Roy Carroll, Derby’s former United goalkeeper, ended the evening without having had to make a save of note.

It was Derby who came closest in the final moments, Hulse missing when it looked far easier to score, but four minutes of stoppage time ended with another almighty roar from the crowd and another half-smile from Clough. Just like old times: 1967 to 1973, to be precise.

Derby County (4-4-1-1): R Carroll — P Connolly, A Todd (sub: R Savage, 88min), L Nyatanga, M Camara — M Sterjovski (sub: G Teale, 58), M Addison, P Green, S Davies (sub: N Barazite, 81) — K Commons — R Hulse. Substitutes not used: S Bywater, D Powell, L Dickinson, S Hines. Booked: Teale, Connolly.

Manchester United (4-4-2): T Kuszczak — Rafael Da Silva, N Vidic, J Evans, J O’Shea — D Gibson, Anderson (sub: M Carrick, 74), P Scholes (sub: C Ronaldo, 63), Nani — D Welbeck (sub: W Rooney, 63), C Tévez. Substitutes not used: B Amos, D Fletcher, R Possebon, R Giggs. Booked: Rafael.

Referee: P Dowd.

Explore Football

• Premier League

• Football League

• Scotland

• European Football

• International Football

• TheGame

• Live Match Tracker

• The Fink Tank

• Fantasy Football