Wayne Rooney’s first game as interim manager of Derby ended in frustration when a late goal earned Wycombe a 1-1 draw at Pride Park.
Rooney saw his side score for the first time in nearly eight hours but they could not add a second and remain bottom of the Championship.
Duane Holmes ended the drought with a clever finish but Wycombe improved after the break and levelled through Matt Bloomfield’s close-range effort.
Rooney left himself out of the squad as he made seven changes from the team that lost 3-0 at Middlesbrough on Wednesday night.
Derby had gone 437 minutes without scoring but after a shapeless start, they had a good chance in the 14th minute when Louie Sibley headed an Andre Wisdom cross over from eight yards.
Wycombe were forced into a change when Curtis Thompson was unable to continue and they had goalkeeper Ryan Allsop to thank for twice denying Derby in the space of 60 seconds.
He turned behind a drive from Holmes in the 23rd minute and when the corner was flicked on, Allsop reacted brilliantly to claw away George Evans’ header.
Wycombe had their first attack in the 28th minute which ended with Garath McCleary firing into the side-netting but Derby had the ball in the net in the 34th minute only for an offside flag to deny Colin Kazim-Richards.
But the striker was involved when Derby scored two minutes later, driving in a low cross which Holmes back-heeled past Allsop.
It was a goal Derby deserved for a first-half performance which had been a big improvement, especially in the final third.
Wycombe brought on Adebayo Akinfenwa for the second half and the striker had his team’s first effort on target with a looping header at David Marshall.
The visitors were asking more questions of Derby but the home side broke dangerously in the 61st minute with Holmes forcing Allsop into a diving save.
Derby had a great chance to ease any nerves six minutes later when Matt Clarke met a Tom Lawrence corner but headed wide.
Clarke had another chance in the 76th minute when he again climbed to power in a header that Allsop saved and Craig Forsyth’s follow-up was cleared off the line.
That proved a big moment because Wycombe equalised in the 81st minute when Marshall could only parry a Fred Onyedinma header at the back post and Bloomfield slid in to score.
It could have been even worse for Derby when McCleary’s shot in stoppage time came back off the underside of the bar and just failed to cross the line.
