WARNE PARTY STARTS TODAY!

DERBY County head coach Paul Warne admitted he was “exhausted” after a win over Carlisle clinched promotion back to the Championship.

- Nigel Gardner

Warne previously achieved three promotions with Rotherham and he saw his team take a big step towards a fourth when Max Bird fired them in front in the fifth minute.

James Collins smashed in his 19th of the season from eight yards just before the hour to spark wild celebrations at Pride Park.

Warne said: “I’m just relieved, my missus will tell me off in a minute for not having any promotion emotion, but I’m just exhausted, if I could lie down here and go to sleep I would.

“I have a lot of pride in just how well the players have done and how hard it is in certain games – you can’t just turn up and smoke teams 4-0 every game. We’ve had some really tough games this year and the lads have hung in there so I have to credit them for their character.

“I just have a sense of relief and pride really. We probably weren’t the trendy option so I’m glad we’ve been able to pay David (Clowes – owner) back.