The hosts took the lead when Andrew Surman struck from 20 yards before Howard levelled with a header and then gave Derby the lead with a penalty.

Marek Saganowski twice hit the crossbar for Southampton, while Jon Macken struck the woodwork for Derby.

The Rams finished the regular season in third place, just two points shy of automatic promotion, with Southampton sneaking into the play-offs in sixth spot.

After some fine football from the Saints, Howard scored the winning goal when keeper Bartosz Bialkowski got a hand to his penalty but could not prevent the ball from going into the bottom corner.