A Roque Santa Cruz double ensured Derby's position as the Premier League's worst-ever team with a 3-1 defeat at Blackburn.

Blackburn won a scrappy encounter without ever needing to play at their best. In Santa Cruz they have a big, powerful striker who has the ability to score goals even when he's drifting in and out of the game. And in David Bentley they have a player who can create something at any moment.

Derby started brightly - this season their players have never been accused of lacking endeavour. Only quality. They began with two strikers on the pitch, Robert Earnshaw and Kenny Miller, but worked hard to ensure they had men behind the ball when Blackburn were in control.

Indeed, they nearly made the breakthrough as early as the seventh minute when a poor back pass by Steven Reid allowed Earnshaw to charge down Brad Friedel's clearance. The ball spooned only just over the bar.

It epitomised their season - working hard, but to no avail. Blackburn immediately took control, and Jason Roberts should have done better than to dally before blazing over the bar. Morten Gamst Pedersen then had an equally good chance on the left, also wasted.

Out of nothing, Derby took the lead. A kick downfield by Roy Carroll caught out the Blackburn defence, who stepped up on the halfway line leaving Miller free to control the ball and slot it calmly past Friedel. The fans went wild.

Blackburn pressed, but Derby defended resolutely. Bentley forced a good save from Carroll with a sublime chip from twenty yards after Roberts chested the ball down, but Blackburn weren't creating open chances. It was only an extended period of pressure right before half time that opened the door.

After two consecutive corners, the ball broke kindly for Pedersen. His low shot from twenty yards was spilled by Carroll, and who should pounce on the rebound but Santa Cruz.

The Paraguayan striker had been largely innocuous for forty-five minutes, but his instinct in front of goal remained predatory. A half time score of one each was fair, but Derby manager Paul Jewell would have been disappointed to concede in such fashion.

His counterpart, Mark Hughes, must have had some words for his players during the break. Blackburn came flying out of the blocks, and within three minutes had taken the lead. But again, it was a classic Derby catalogue of errors. Three times their defence had the opportunity to clear - three miskicks resulted in Jason Roberts though on goal, and he didn't miss from ten yards.

From then on, there was only one winner. Bentley started exercising some quality from the wing and through the middle - he does an excellent job of floating around and losing his man - and it was all Blackburn. It was no surprise on 78 minutes when Bentley appeared on the left wing, created room for a right-footed cross and Santa Cruz came crashing in at the far post to score with his head.

Just a few minutes earlier the Derby fans had been doing the conga in front of the away stand, and the Blackburn goal could not dent their enthusiasm. But Derby will now be relegated with the lowest Premier League points total of all time, taking Sunderland's record from the 05/06 season.

Now they need a win on the last day of the season to ensure they are not the only team since Loughborough College in 1899/1900 to finish an English League season with only one win.

For Blackburn, a win next week will give them the every chance of European competition next season via the Intertoto Cup. With Santa Cruz in such form, it's a very real possibility.

Ben Letham / Eurosport