Thousands of Derby fans have marched to Pride Park as they bid to save the club from extinction.
Rams supporters were joined by Birmingham fans as they gathered en masse to protest ahead of the pair's Championship clash on Sunday in a desperate attempt to raise more awareness of the club's plight.
Wayne Rooney 's side have been in administration since September and face the daunting prospect of going bust should they fail to find a new owner.
Derby have already been docked 21 points so far this season to compound matters, but the club's faithful came out in force on Sunday prior to kick-off having sold out Pride Park for the first time since early 2020.
Rams fans gathered in the Market Place near the Assembly Rooms at 11.30am, two hours ahead of kick-off and made their way through the city towards the stadium, with police closing a number of roads.
Footage showed supporters holding banners, waving flags and chanting raucously as part of the protest in a valiant message to potential purchasers.
One particularly prominent banner proudly read: "A founder member of the Football League with 138 years history of football heritage #SaveDerbyCounty."
According to the Derbyshire Telegraph, a number of meetings have taken place within the last week in order to discuss the future of the club, which faces the threat of liquidation if a takeover deal cannot be reached.
The Championship outfit have reportedly been the subject of three bids so far with the Binnie Brothers, former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley and a consortium including former Rams chairman Andy Appleby said to be interested.
Administrators Quantuma and the English Football League released a joint statement this week revealing that "a month-long extension" had been agreed for the club to provide proof of funding that they are able to complete the season.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Can Wayne Rooney keep Derby in the Championship this season? Comment below
Rooney revealed earlier this week that he rejected approaches from former team Everton in a bid to stand Derby in their hour of need and admitted it would be the highlight of his career should he keep the cash-strapped club in the Championship against all the odds.
"It would certainly be the best achievement of my football career," Rooney told Sky Sports. "To take charge of a club - first of all, I think it’s an achievement to keep us up last season, but then to go through this season, the first day of the season, not having a centre back on the books the day before the game.
"Then halfway through the session, one comes out, then two comes out.
"Then dealing with transfer embargoes, not being able to bring players in, not being able to bring players you want to bring in, budget being completely slashed to almost zero. A 12-point deduction and then, on top of that, another nine-point deduction.
"If we stay in this division, I think not just for myself, the players, for the staff, it’d be one of the greatest achievements in football."
Ahead of Sunday's clash against the Blues, Derby sit 23rd in the Championship table, eight points adrift of safety with one game in hand over a precariously placed Reading.
