Not many teams concede six goals in a game in the English Premier League. In fact, nobody managed to get more than four against my beloved Watford last season, and only Chelsea and Manchester United managed that.

Last night's 6-2 defeat at home to Arsenal was the fourth time Derby had shipped six goals in a game this season after Aston Villa, Chelsea and Liverpool had all managed the feat before. West Ham and Arsenal, in the game at the Emirates, had put five past them and Tottenham and Manchester United hit four. Even Championship side Preston scored four against them in the FA Cup.

With just two games to go Derby sit with eleven points and only one win all season. They have conceded eighty-two goals in their thirty-six games and scored only nineteen. They need four points from their last two games to equal the worst ever points tally in the Premier League and they are just not going to get them. They travel to Blackburn next, which will probably be a damage limitation exercise, and then entertain Reading, who might be fighting in that game for survival. I don't see Derby picking up another point.

So the question is, was it worth getting promotion? The exhilaration felt by the staff, players and fans after their play-off final success last May was unrestrained. It was what everyone at the club had worked for and dreamt of. They knew it would be tough in the top league and in reality, they may well have expected to suffer relegation. They would certainly have expected a relegation battle.

What they wouldn't have expected was the total humiliation that the season has been. The club are going down with a healthier bank balance and a decent manager, but it will be a remarkable performance if they can turn things around sufficiently next season in the Championship to recover from this season and mount a serious challenge to come back.

This season in with the big boys could have done horrible long term damage to the club. You only have to look at the big clubs at the lower end of the Championship to see that any exit from the Premier League can be enormously damaging, let alone one so ignominious as the one Derby have suffered.

I truly hope that Derby can regroup in the summer and put this last season down to experience and move on. They have a good fan base, a fine stadium and a well respected manager. The first few games of next season will be absolutely crucial and will be key to the club's short and medium term future.

I hope they can recover quickly but I do fear for them.