Kyrell Lisbie scored twice in the early stages as Millwall eased to a 4-1 victory against struggling Derby at The Den in the Sky Bet Championship.

The Lions roared out of the blocks as they scored three goals in the first 17 minutes to ensure what was just their second win in eight league games was secured with plenty to spare.

This was another worrying afternoon for the Rams, though, who were never in the contest and they remain second from bottom, four points from safety, and without a win in nine games.

Millwall were ahead after only three minutes when Camiel Neghli passed inside to Lyndon Dykes whose own ball found Lisbie in plenty of space and the winger placed his shot into the bottom corner via a slight deflection.

The lead was doubled in the 10th minute, though, when Neghli bent in an excellent cross from the left and Dykes' header across the six-yard box gave Lisbie the easiest of tap-ins.

Derby had a great chance to pull a goal back quickly, but their captain Carlton Morris skied his effort after being found at the back post by Rhian Brewster's low cross.

Instead, Millwall had their third with only 17 minutes on the clock when Neghli's ball over the top allowed Luke Cundle to run in behind a flat-footed defence and finish well past the helpless Jacob Widell Zetterstrom.

The Rams' goalkeeper could be forgiven what was going on in front of him, while the away supporters were singing "you're not fit to wear the shirt" at their own players.

Derby almost registered within a minute of the restart when Sam Szmodics fizzed the ball across the box and Morris' header was clawed behind by Millwall goalkeeper Max Crocombe.

The visitors were looking far more coherent - in contrast to their desperate start to proceedings - but were struggling to create clear-cut chances, with Brewster shooting at Crocombe from a narrow angle.

Cundle almost had his second of the afternoon for the Lions when his shot was beaten away by Zetterstrom before Caleb Taylor headed over for the hosts after Derek Mazou-Sacko's cross ricocheted into his path.

Mihaiolo Ivanovic then set up his fellow sub, Romain Esse, who should have added a fourth when his scuffed effort was kept out by Zetterstrom.

But extra gloss was added to the scoreline in the 84th minute when Alfie Doughty's mishit shot from distance ran for Ivanovic who unselfishly squared the ball for captain Jake Cooper to slam into the roof of the net.

Derby, at least, struck a consolation with three minutes left when Filip Bilbija fired in his first goal for the club after Crocombe had kept out a shot from Oscar Fraulo.

The managers

Millwall's Alex Neil:

"I think we all know we needed it.

"I thought our start was excellent, to go 3-0 up after about 20 minutes, and I think you could probably see that part of it was some pent-up frustration from all of us.

"There have been certain games that we've played recently where we've probably not got what we deserved.

"But I've been involved in football long enough and if you lose and you don't get a sequence of results go your way, then everything you do is crap at that point, which is fine.

"So, we needed to show that we're capable of going and performing, and winning, and what was really pleasing today for me was I felt like we played the game with no fear.

"When you play with fear, you tend to just put it forward and play off second balls, but we played when it was on to play."

Derby's John Eustace:

"Obviously, the first 20 minutes was really disappointing. The manner we conceded the goals was very soft.

"Obviously, we've got a lot of injuries at the back at the moment - seven defenders out - and it's only a makeshift defence, but we have to defend better if we want to get any results in games, and certainly in that first 20 minutes we didn't do it.

"Millwall started very quick and losing Joe Ward yesterday, just after training, was a blow as well.

"We had Max (Johnston) coming in and you've got to look at Jack Robinson - that was just his second appearance in the last four months and obviously he has had no pre-season.

"So, to come into an environment like this, at top Championship level, and expect him to perform at the level is always going to be tough.

"I was happy with the response after half-time; we battled and showed a good spirit."