Paul Jewell saw a many signs of how he wants his Derby County team to play in Saturday's final pre-season friendly with FC Utrecht.

The Rams warmed up for the Coca-Cola Championship season against the Dutch outfit and came out with a hard-earned 2-2 draw.

And particularly in the first half, Jewell was encouraged by what he saw.

He told www.dcfc.co.uk: "We will try and pass the ball this season, we will try and get crosses in to the box, and hopefully we will be playing winning football.

"We did that in the first half today and played some good stuff but in the second the game got stretched and we lost our shape a bit.

"There were a lot of good signs today but there is a lot to improve on and hopefully there will be no injuries to come out of it so we can have a good week to be ready for next Saturday."

Derby found themselves behind early on to Leroy George's finish for the Dutch side but they were quickly level thanks to Kris Commons's flying header.

A Nathan Ellington penalty put them in front and although Gregoor van Dijk equalised from the spot after the break, there was plenty to take home.

"Our first was a terrific goal from a great move and a good cross by Jay McEveley," the gaffer continued.

"You can tell already with Kris Commons that the crowd like him here and he excites people.

"What we have got here is players who can open the door, who can do things out of the blue, and they will be very valuable for us this season.

"Certainly it was good for Kris and Nathan to score their first goals at Pride Park."

There was also a 64-minute outing for Latvian international Andrey Pereplotkin, who started on the right of the Rams' midfield.

The 23-year-old is on trial from Skonto FC and Jewell was pleased with what he saw.

"He did very well in training on Thursday and Friday, and has done well again today, and we'll see what the situation is," said Jewell.

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