HALLOWEEN arrived a week early at Pride Park Stadium.

Derby County's "Wear White Night" – they gave away free white T-shirts to every supporter – descended into "fright night".

Supporters felt shivers of concern as they watched their team collapse to a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Queens Park Rangers after being two up in the first half.

Disgruntled fans among another 30,000-plus crowd showed their disappointment in the closing stages of the contest.

Dozens of the white T-shirts were thrown on to the pitch in disgust – not a good advert for the club on national television – and a chorus of boos accompanied the players as they trudged off at the end.

Seven defeats in the last 10 matches have left the Rams too close to the bottom three for comfort.

Goals are also being conceded again – six in the last two games and 12 in the last five.

And the manner of those conceded against Rangers was enough to frighten anybody. Some of the defending was alarming.

Derby are limping along but there are mitigating circumstances, with injuries topping the list.

Key centre-back (when fit) Dean Leacock was missing again and the number of absentees, including those who are not fully match-fit, continues to severely hamper manager Nigel Clough's selection and, therefore, the team's progress.

A number of the players currently starting would not be in if everybody was available.

For patched-up Derby to meet in-form and free-scoring Rangers at such a time was always going to be a big test. The form book suggested an away win.

Rangers are brimming with confidence and full of bright movement. They possess the momentum that comes with winning games and scoring goals. Jim Magilton's side have now scored four in each of their last three games.

They bossed possession and stretched the Rams from first to last with their accurate passing, neat control and comfort on the ball.

In truth, they had too much in their locker for Derby and deserved their win. Sometimes the opposition is better.

Yet Derby put themselves on course for the points when they built a 2-0 lead in 36 minutes.

The "old heads" of skipper Robbie Savage and on-loan striker Paul Dickov combined after nine minutes to catch Rangers dozing.

Savage earned a spotter's badge when his quickly-taken free kick found Dickov free in the area. The weight of pass was perfect and Dickov swept the ball wide of Radek Cerny from 15 yards for his first goal for the club.

Cerny's sharp reactions kept out a glancing header from Rob Hulse, who also headed over from a Lee Croft centre before the Rams struck again.

Dickov cleverly earned a free kick off Damion Stewart when there did not seem to be a foul and Savage stepped up to curl a superb free kick from 20 yards up over the wall and into the top corner. The ball clipped the post on its way in, making it unstoppable.

Cerny, given absolutely no chance, would have been forgiven had he stood and applauded. Never mind "bend it like Beckham", it should be "swerve it like Savage". His only previous goal for the Rams had come from another excellent free kick, at Doncaster in February.

The lead was against the run of play but having gained such an advantage, especially at home, a team should win. If not, they should certainly not lose.

But Derby failed to handle their lead with enough care.

There was not enough determination to hold on to what they had got and they were pegged back too easily.

Rangers' football had been easy on the eye without an end product but that changed in a seven-minute spell either side of half-time.

The clever Alejandro Faurlin had already bent a free kick inches wide when Paul Connolly was harshly judged to have fouled Adel Taarabt when there looked to be no contact.

Taarabt, terrific on the night, picked himself up and curled his shot low around the wall and beyond Stephen Bywater's dive.

The shot certainly contained bend but no way should the ball have found the net in that way.

There was a big question mark over the position of the wall but Croft might have done more on the end of it had he not turned into the wall rather than towards the ball.

If failure to hold on to their two-goal lead before the interval was a body blow, conceding an equaliser 90 seconds after the restart flattened the Rams.

Dean Moxey had an awful time defensively.

He allowed a long ball to drift over his head and Wayne Routledge, who tops the list for assists in the Championship, had a ridiculous amount of time and space to volley into the path of Gavin Mahon, who found the net from six yards.

Routledge, Moxey's tormentor once he moved to the right, was in again and Bywater did well to keep out the shot but he was beaten for a third time just before the hour mark as Rangers went ahead.

Connolly and Barker failed to deal with a through ball and Routledge eased Moxey off the ball for Jay Simpson to fire low past Bywater from 12 yards.

Derby wanted a foul on Moxey in the build-up but the left-back has to be stronger in such situations.

Moxey's misery was complete in the final minute when he brought down Routledge, according to a linesman. It was a questionable decision, like the penalty at Middlesbrough a few days earlier, but that was of no concern to Akos Buzsaky, who drove his spot kick high past Bywater.

Rangers, like other teams this season, found it too easy to get at Derby and would have scored more but for Bywater, who made his 100th League appearance for the Rams.

Crumbs of comfort could be found in the return to action after injury of substitutes Stephen Pearson and Steve Davies and the latter saw a looping header cleared close to his line by Kaspars Gorkss, while Hulse wasted a good opportunity before Rangers' fourth goal.

But Derby's flimsy response once Rangers were back in the game was a worry.

Wingers Croft and Teale delivered one or two decent crosses but did not provide enough. They tended to tie themselves rather than their markers in knots and Hulse has had better days, although he was left isolated at times.

Derby's difficulty keeping the ball was evident again and they are crying out for some genuine pace to turn opponents around.

By contrast, Faurlin, Buzsaky, Mahon, Taarabt and Routledge all looked at ease in possession. Their awareness allowed them to find pockets of space in which to play or run. In many ways they typify their manager, Magilton, who was a cultured player himself.

Barker, apart from on the third goal, defended well in the main but Savage was Derby's best outfield player by some distance. The midfielder is 35 and has seen it and done it in his long career but he is still willing to run himself into the ground for the team.

Bryan Hughes became the 26th player to be used this season. The on-loan midfielder hit a couple of tasty passes but had a quiet debut, perhaps not surprising given he has been on the sidelines at Hull City all season.

Rangers easily beat Derby in Clough's first game as manager back in January. Now they have done it again.

He will be glad to see the back of them.