ANDI WEIMANN AND Yuki Ohashi both notched debut goals as Blackburn opened their Championship campaign with a 4-2 win over promoted Derby.
John Eustace’s men were rewarded for their fast start as they took a 19th-minute lead through Tyrhys Dolan’s close-range finish after a well-worked move.
Rovers were in control for the first half but Derby battled back after the break and Curtis Nelson’s powerful header in the 67th minute levelled matters.
But the task facing the promoted Rams was laid bare by a triple Blackburn substitution just prior to the equaliser that saw Rovers introduce Weimann, Ohashi and Sammie Szmodics and that trio blew the visitors away with three goals in the space of 12 minutes.
First, Weimann headed home in the 72nd minute from close range against his former club after superb work from Hayden Carter.
Szmodics, who is being linked with a move to the Premier League, then confidently swept home four minutes later to make it 3-1 before turning provider for Ohashi to add a fourth with six minutes to go.
Kane Wilson headed a late consolation for Derby but this was a sobering reintroduction to the Championship after a two-year absence.
In the other Championship game of the night, Oliver Arblaster and Gustavo Hamer found the net as Sheffield United wrapped up a comfortable 2-0 victory over Preston.
Academy star Arblaster opened the scoring with a 12th-minute deflected effort and Hamer took advantage of a Freddie Woodman howler to add a second in the 55th minute.
It was a buoyant atmosphere at Deepdale and Will Keane nearly gave the home supporters some early cheer but he could not keep his first-time effort down after connecting with Robbie Brady’s cross in the opening minutes.
That excitement dampened somewhat as their Yorkshire-based opponents soon took the lead and went on to take all three points.
