Strange, schizophrenic Derby. A week ago, they were thrashed 6-0 on their own ground by far-from-irresistible Aston Villa. Yesterday, they gave a much-depleted West Ham United a good hard run for their money, threatened to equalise, did equalise, only to be pipped by Carlton Cole’s late goal.

By the same token, one had seen them thrashed last month beyond recall at Chelsea. Only, three days later, to rise from the ashes and lose only 1-0 at home in front of their supremely loyal crowd, to the mighty Manchester United.

Alan Curbishley, West Ham’s manager, had the unpleasant experience of being booed off the field at the end by his own supporters. He was, he admitted, philosophically “a bit disappointed” but pointed out the significant fact that no fewer than 14 of his first team squad were injured. Of these, such major figures as Craig Bellamy, Matthew Etherington and Lee Bowyer were long-term casualties. On Friday, he learned that three more of his first-choice men, among them his centre-forward Dean Ashton, were for one reason or another unfit to play. This led inevitably to a patched-up side that included two teenagers in the centre-back James Tomkins, with whom Curbishley was pleased, and the striker Freddie Sears.

It was somewhat ironic that the crowd should chant: “You don’t know what’re doing!” at Curbishley when he substituted Cole for Sears 28 minutes into the second half, since Cole it was who eventually scored the deciding goal. In retrospect, you did wonder why he, with his experience and physical power, had not been on from the beginning.

When Bobby Zamora, another who had played so infrequently this season, put West Ham ahead on 20 minutes with his first goal for almost exactly a year, it looked as if the floodgates for Derby would open again. Indeed it seemed just the kind of goal a demoralised team would give away. Moving across to the right, George McCartney curled an inswinging free kick into the box. There, Derby centre-back Dean Leacock lost Zamora, who headed past Roy Carroll.

The Hammers failed to build on that relatively early success, or on its potential effect on Derby’s morale. The closest thing to another goal we saw before half-time was when David Jones put over a cross from the left to which Robbie Savage strongly got his head only for Robert Green to tip the ball over the bar.

You could hardly deny Derby’s long-suffering but ever-optimistic manager Paul Jewell when he said that though he was disappointed in the first half with a side “feeling sorry for themselves after the previous week, in the second half I thought we played well and I thought we showed some good character and played some decent stuff. Plenty of balls were going in the box. At least it augurs well for next season. I can’t wait for the season to finish and start again. I think the whole mentality of the club will change in the summer”.

By contrast with a largely dull, uneventful first half, the second period was lively, a good deal of it involving West Ham’s Swedish winger, Freddie Ljungberg. On 49 minutes, his cross to Scott Parker, coming in from the right, should probably have led to a goal, but Parker put it wide.

Subsequently, on 62 and 65 minutes respectively, Ljungberg, inexplicably and inexcusably, was left on his inadequate own to deal with the electric pace of the Derby winger Tyrone Mears. Where, the Swede might justifiably have asked, was everybody else? Though to be fair to West Ham, Curbishley pointed out they were missing a whole platoon of centre-backs. As it was, when the alert Hossam Ghaly, Derby’s Egyptian international midfielder, sent Mears away, he was too fast for Ljungberg. He seemed certain to score but Green brought off a gallant and dramatic save at his feet.

Three minutes later, when West Ham failed to learn the lesson of what had happened before, Ghaly again sent Mears clear of a toiling Ljungberg and this time he beat Green ends up.

West Ham revived. When Julien Faubert crossed, Carroll saved a diving header by Mark Noble. And when Savage brought down Ljungberg, just outside the penalty box, you felt Ljungberg had every right to his anger that a free kick at least had not been given. So it was after 76 minutes that Ljungberg, working neatly on the left with Noble, pulled the ball back for Cole to drive home the winning goal.

Star man: Robert Green (West Ham)

West Ham: Green 8, Pantsil 5 (Solano 78min), Tomkins 5, Neill 6, McCartney 6, Faubert 6, Noble 7, Parker 6, Ljungberg 6, Sears 5 (Cole 73min), Zamora 6

Derby: Carroll 7, Todd 6 (McEveley 82min), Leacock 6, Stubbs 6, Lewis 6, Mears 8, Ghaly 7, Savage 6, Jones 6 (Villa 74min), Sterjovski 6, Miller 6

Scorers: West Ham: Zamora 20, Cole 77 Derby: Mears 65
Referee: S Tanner
Attendance: 34,612