FA Cup fourth round
Gareth Davis reports from Pride Park Stadium

Derby were sent tumbling out of the FA Cup at the fourth round stage after they fell to a 4-1 defeat at home to Championship strugglers Preston North End.

Robert Earnshaw's first goal for the club nine minutes into the second half gave them some hope but the damage had already been done after a horror-show in the first 45.

Karl Hawley opened the scoring early on, Simon Whaley added a second shortly after the half-hour and it was three before the interval through Hawley's second.

Derby probably had the better of the second period but other than Earnshaw's goal they couldn't find a route back into things.

Lewin Nyatanga was sent off in stoppage-time for a professional foul on Neil Mellor, which gave the substitute the chance to wrap things up from the spot.

Derby's starting line-up for the FA Cup fourth-round clash showed four changes to the side that had won on penalties at Sheffield Wednesday a few days previously.

Back in were skipper Robbie Savage, striker Tito Villa, midfielder Hossam Ghaly and winger Eddie Lewis with Giles Barnes, Gary Teale and Dean Leacock among the substitutes, while suspension ruled out Craig Fagan.

That all meant a slight switch with Ghaly wide on the right, Savage alongside Stephen Pearson in the middle, and Eddie Lewis on the left, Villa joining Kenny Miller in attack, while the back-four was unchanged.

Preston had most of the pressure in the first five minutes but although there were a few gasps around Pride Park when clearances appeared to be sliced, the visitors didn't threaten Lewis Price's goal.

The first shot of the game was Villa's, who saw his edge-of-the-box effort blocked at source by ex-Ram Youl Mawene.

But the second came from Karl Hawley on 13 minutes and it was enough to put the visitors a goal up.

Andy Todd's weak back-pass was seized upon by Chris Brown, though with the angle narrowing he had enough awareness to pull the ball back for Hawley to side-foot it past Claude Davis's challenge and into the net from 14 yards.

Behind early on against Coca-Cola Championship opposition - not an unfamiliar position for the Rams in this season's competition, and they have already recovered twice.

Preston had further pressure with a pair of corners that ultimately led to Paul McKenna driving a shot not too far over from 20 yards.

And there was an enforced change for the Rams on 23 as Lewis walked off gingerly and was replaced by Gary Teale, who came straight out to the right with Ghaly central and Pearson on the left.

Derby's best effort thus far arrived on the half-hour mark through Savage, who stepped up and aimed a 25-yard free-kickc that curled just wide of Andy Lonergan's right-hand post.

Possession-wise Paul Jewell's side were having the better of things, with Ghaly looking far more comfortable in the middle, though Lonergan hadn't been seriously tested.

And just two minutes later the visitors doubled their lead.

Brown appeared offside on a long pass but was allowed to play on and pull the ball back for Paul McKenna, who in turn squared it to Simon Whaley.

Whaley was left in acres of space and had time to take a touch before rolling his finish past Price.

Preston's third arrived in first-half stoppage-time to compound Derby's misery after a poor first 45.

Hawley was left with too much time and space on the edge of the box and teed the ball up on his right foot before curling a delightful effort past Price.

Unbelievably they almost made it four, but Price dived low to save Carter's 20-yard effort before the whistle blew to a chorus of disgruntled comments from the home faithful.

Robert Earnshaw and Giles Barnes were on at the interval, for Villa and Todd, as Jewell tried to rescue something from the game, while the visitors replaced Callum Davidson with Matthew Hill.

The visitors had strong appeals for a penalty rejected by Lee Probert six minutes after the interval as Davis appeared to bundle over Hawley inside the six-yard box.

And Derby pulled a goal back on 54 minutes.

The ball was played up to Earnshaw, who nodded it down to Teale near halfway before picking up the Scotsman's pass and running clear into the Preston box where he finished well past Lonergan.

It was the Welshman's first goal in a Derby shirt since his record-breaking £3.5m move in June last year.

The Pride Park atmosphere had changed damatically as Derby lifted their tempo following the goal, and Earnshaw soon eyed a second but was off-target with his 25-yarder.

A superb reflex save from Lonergan prevented Savage from pulling another back on 62 as the Rams cranked up the pressure.

Pearson, now in as a makeshift left-back, picked up the game's first caution midway through the second half as he lunged through Chris Sedgwick out on the touchline.

But Preston had ridden the storm and were looking more likely to net a fourth - especially with a flurry of corners, the fourth of which was headed over by Mawene from close-range.

Sedgwick was next into the book on 70 minutes for a foul on Pearson - it looked as if revenge was in the winger's mind.

Derby were almost caught out on the break as Whaley charged down the left and crossed low into the box where a combination of Pearson and Hawley managed to deflect the ball up and against the bar, before Nyatanga headed it out for a corner.

From the resulting flag-kick McKenna clipped the top of the bar with a powerful effort from the edge of the D.

Barnes had an effort deflected over and Miller was not far off-target with a header as the game started to open up further with time ticking on.

Though there was the sense that the longer Derby went without pulling a second back the more their chances were lessening - and with five minutes remaining they hadn't found the breakthrough.

And with the Rams pushing up, they were caught out once more in stoppage-time as Neil Mellor broke through and was bundled over inside the box by Nyatanga, who saw red for his troubles.

Up stepped the substitute to rub salt into the already gaping wounds with a firm spot-kick inside Price's left-hand post.

DERBY: Price, Edworthy, Villa (Earnshaw HT), Miller, Lewis (Teale 23), Todd (Barnes HT), Davis, Pearson, Nyatanga, Ghaly, Savage (C).

SUBS: Hinchliffe (GK), Leacock.

PRESTON: Lonergan, Davidson (Hill HT), Mawene, Sedgwick, Hawley (Mellor 84), Brown, Carter, St Ledger, Chilvers, Whaley (Nicholls 86), McKenna (C).

SUBS: Neal (GK), Anyinsah.

ATTENDANCE: 17,344 (1,238 visiting fans).