Derby County fell short of the Championship play-offs after Sheffield United left a packed Pride Park stunned with a fightback victory on a dramatic final day.

The eighth-placed Rams had to win and hope results elsewhere went their way for them to leap two spots and gatecrash the top six.

Sam Szmodics gave Derby the ideal start with a tap-in finish following the chaos of a corner that the Blades failed to clear.

And until a defensive mistake from Joe Ward gifted Tom Cannon the chance to level in the 62nd minute, the Rams looked on track to continue their Premier League promotion push.

Sydie Peck then edged the Blades ahead with a long-range finish to deflate the hosts, although Hull City's win against Norwich meant that, ultimately, even a Rams victory would not have been enough to snatch the last of the play-off spots.

Defeat consigned the Rams to an eighth-placed finish, four points adrift of the Tigers, while victory ensured the Blades ended up 13th, a respectable finish after their awful start to the season.

While Szmodics squandered a huge chance inside the first 90 seconds when sent clear on goal on a must-win afternoon in the East Midlands, the Republic of Ireland international wasted no time in making amends when he popped up unchecked at the back post to open the scoring in the fifth minute.

He came up with a poked finish from point-blank range after darting in to meet a deflected Jaydon Banel shot.

While the Rams - spurred on by Szmodics, the energetic Banel and industrious David Ozoh in the middle of the park - looked the most threatening for much of the first half, the Blades improved after their sluggish start.

Although a direct free-kick from Gustavo Hamer that demanded a diving save from Jacob Widell Zetterstrom was the only real chance United created in search of a first-half leveller.

Blades goalkeeper Adam Davies was tested early in the second half by a curled free-kick from Ward, whose misplaced pass at the other end just after the hour mark cost the Rams dearly.

The ball only found Hamer, who moved it on to Patrick Bamford in the box where he teed Cannon up to slot home into an unguarded net.

Peck landed the hammer blow on Derby soon after, with his dipping shot finding the bottom corner.

Sondre Langas went on to loop a header onto the roof of the net as the hosts searched for a way back into the game and play-off picture, but in the end they had Zetterstrom to thank for keeping the scoreline down as the Sweden international denied Danny Ings.

Derby County head coach John Eustace told BBC Radio Derby:

"It's obviously disappointing not to win the game. I thought for the first hour, the players were unbelievable. With the effort of that first half we could have been three or four up, and we played some good stuff.

"That is certainly a sign of more things to come and what I want the team to be going into next year.

"Throughout this season this magnificent fanbase has got right behind the boys and today they were unbelievable. You can see the amount of people who have stayed back to make sure they show support for the players and the efforts they have put in this year, and that's amazing. That is why I came to the football club and why I want to keep help building it and pointing it in the right direction.

"We will [start preparing for next season] straight away. We will get the players signed up who are here, and we will need to keep building and have to bring top quality in.

"Look at Sheffield United, it's a fantastic team, but look at their bench and the players they are bringing on. We want to be able to do that.

"We obviously want to bring top players into the football club and really grow to help us sustain that top six [push], and with a bit of luck and if we believe in ourselves we can get into that top two."

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield:

"We had to weather a tough start because they [Derby] came absolutely roaring out of the traps.

"We got through that period and got a foothold in the game, and in the second half we were really good- we defended really well, broke the game up and created good chances.

"That one was for the supporters, 100%.

"It was a sellout here today, and I said that to the players - 'they [fans] have followed you up and down the country, and if any group of supporters deserve that after an incredibly challenging season, it's them'.

"And we've got through it with a reasonable points tally of 60. We wanted to get off the bottom of the division [where the Blades were when Wilder was reappointed], and we did that, then we wanted to get the club up the table, and we did that.

"We just stalled and fell a little bit short, and we have to take that.

"I've known what we have to do, and we are well on our way to doing it. And we will be better for it and we will hopefully be playing in games like this towards the back end of next year as Derby County have today."