Derby County have edged to a slender 1-0 victory over German Regionalliga side Meppen courtesy of a first-half Thomas Ince strike.
It was the visitors who made the brighter start to the match and they almost took the lead twice inside the opening 20 minutes when Lars Huxsohl was called upon to deny Andreas Weimann and Craig Bryson.
Huxsohl was beaten shortly after the hour mark, but Weimann also put the ball the wrong side of the post having burst through one on one with the keeper.
Meppen began to come into the game towards the end of the first half, with Max Kremer drawing the first save from Lee Grant, but they found themselves behind with just four minutes to go until the break when Ince slotted home after being set up by Weimann.
Ince came close to a second before the half was out, and picked up where he left off after the break when he was denied twice in a matter of seconds by the Meppen keeper.
Sub shot-stopper Benjamin Gommert was being kept busy between the sticks, keeping out efforts from Ryan Shotton, Bryson and Jeff Hendrick to maintain his side's hope of pulling off a draw.
His heroics were inches away from being rewarded with just seven minutes remaining when Martin Wagner's 25-yard free kick crashed against the crossbar.
Derby survived, however, and successfully saw out the victory to make it two wins in a row on their pre-season tour.
Barney Corkhill
