Sheff Utd, Blackburn enjoy wins on Championship opening night

Sheffield United began their fight to get back into the Premier League with a 2-0 win at Preston on Friday as Blackburn made Derby's return to the Championship one to forget in a 4-2 defeat.

The Blades were one of the three promoted sides in the Premier League last season to head straight back down to the second tier.

But they made a bright start to their promotion push as Oliver Arblaster's deflected strike opened the scoring on 12 minutes.

Three points to begin our 24/25 campaign 🙌 pic.twitter.com/FKULVeWUCg

— Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) August 9, 2024

Gustavo Hamer then took advantage of a howler from Preston goalkeeper Freddie Woodman to make the points safe in the second half.

Blackburn only narrowly avoided relegation to League One last season, but proved too strong for Derby.

Rovers left Sammie Szmodics on the bench with the Irish international a target for Ipswich on their return to the Premier League.

⏱️ Full-time: 🌹 #Rovers 4-2 #DCFC 🐏

We kick off the new campaign with our biggest opening day win in 21 years! 🙌#ROVvDER 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/GgQddqHzMX

— Blackburn Rovers (@Rovers) August 9, 2024

But Szmodics, who was the Championship's top scorer last season, still made an impact with a goal and assist in the second half.

Andreas Weimann and Yuki Ohashi also netted on their debuts for Blackburn after Tyrhys Dolan opened the scoring.

Curtis Nelson and Kane Wilson were on target for the Rams, who got a harsh introduction to life back in the second tier after promotion from League One last season.