Derby County: £1.4m outlay starting to be justified on Bristol City evidence - View | OneFootball

Jacob Widell Zetterström was excellent against the Robins, keeping a clean sheet on his home debut.

Two months ago, Derby County's number one goalkeeper, Joe Wildsmith, left the club after two spectacular years.

There was a touch of nervousness surrounding Pride Park after the 28-year-old departed at the end of his contract. He kept 20 clean sheets to help the Rams to promotion, and left Paul Warne with a huge decision to make.

Jacob Widell Zetterström was identified early on as the ideal replacement for Wildsmith, with the Swede officially joining Derby in mid-August for £1.4 million.

The 26-year-old has experience playing in Europe with Djurgårdens in his home country, and helped the club on their way to qualification for the Europa Conference League group stage before he left for the East Midlands.

However, now playing his football in England, Zetterström has had to quickly adapt to living in a new country while being thrown in at the deep-end - starting in all three of the Rams' previous games in all competitions.

Zetterström was unplayable against Bristol City

Following a desperate loss on penalties to Barrow in the Carabao Cup in midweek, Derby had to react against Bristol City in their next Championship game.

Zetterström had made his debut for the club just a week earlier, in a 2-1 loss away to Watford, but now he was looking to make an impact in his first appearance at Pride Park.

He was quickly called into action, and after what looked like a miscommunication with centre-back Curtis Nelson, the Swede came off his line to stop Sinclair Armstrong from putting the visitors 1-0 up inside the first ten minutes.

Zetterström had to deny the ever-dangerous Armstrong once again not long after. However, a smart stop from the gigantic goalkeeper kept the game level, allowing the Rams to take the lead before the half-hour mark.

The 26-year-old made three more saves in the second-half, and never looked like he could be beaten as the Robins tried but failed to breach the Derby defence.

He enforced calm among the Rams backline, and was excellent with his distribution throughout. The shot-stopper knew when to slow the game down, as well as starting counter-attacks himself when needed.

Zetterström could go down as a fan favourite

Goalkeepers at Derby have always enjoyed cult-hero status. Mart Poom and Scott Carson are two that have won supporters over hugely in the last 25 years, and Zetterström seems to have been cut from the same ilk as the pair, particularly Poom.

The Estonian had an incredible personality, which shone through in the way he played - something that seems to be a major part of the Rams' new number one's game.

It was portrayed perhaps most accurately following the third goal in the 3-0 win over the weekend, with Zetterström sprinting the entirety of the pitch to celebrate with his teammates after David Ozoh struck home.

With his scrum cap and towering figure, he is an easily recognisable player, and if he carries on with performances like the one he had against Bristol City, he could write his name into modern Derby history.