As he struggled to hold down a regular place at Blackburn, McEveley signed for promotion-chasing Championship side Derby County during the January 2007 transfer window for a fee rumoured to be in the region of £600,000. Replacing previous first choice left back Mo Camara, McEveley played regularly for the Rams as they eventually finished third and earned promotion to the Premier League following a 1–0 win over West Brom in the Championship play-off final. McEveley played regularly for Derby upon their return to the Premiership and scored his first goal for County against Liverpool, the equaliser, in a 2–1 home defeat. He sustained knee ligament damage in the 1–0 loss to Bolton on 2 January 2008 after a heavy tackle from Kevin Davies which was expected to keep him out for four months, though he returned six weeks later to play in Derby's 2–0 defeat away to Wigan Athletic at the end of February 2008.