Curtis Davies was quick to accept that Derby County were not at their best after they were held to a 1-1 draw against Sheffield United - and feels the result should be viewed as a point gained rather that two dropped.
Derby took the lead midway through the first half at Pride Park Stadium as Matej Vydra fired home his 15th goal of the season from the penalty spot after George Baldock was penalised for handball under pressure from Johnny Russell.
Chris Wilder’s men responded with a strong second half showing and striker Leon Clarke headed Clayton Donaldson’s cross from the right past Scott Carson just before the hour-mark to earn a share of the spoils.
The draw saw the Rams extend their unbeaten run in the Sky Bet Championship to seven matches and retain second place in the table ahead of Bristol City’s 5:30pm kick-off at Aston Villa.
Despite admitting to being disappointed with Derby’s overall performance, Davies was keen to stress that the point against the Blades should be viewed as a positive one.
The 32-year-old defender told RamsTV: “I think it is a good point for us in the end and it keeps the unbeaten run going.
“In any home game when you go a goal up you’d like to think you can hold on to it and in recent months we have been good at doing that.
“However, I don’t think that we were the team that we have been recently today and Sheffield United were by far the better side.
“When we went in front I thought it settled us down a bit and we played some good stuff towards the end of the half. We spoke about going again at half-time but Sheffield United came out strongly in the second half and had more energy, so I guess they will feel they deserved that goal and the point.”
He added: “We weren’t at it today and we have to accept it. Come the next league game, against Birmingham City next Saturday, we’ll aim to do better."
The draw against the Blades came just two days after Derby’s 2-1 victory at Ipswich Town and the typically-gruelling Christmas period presented Gary Rowett’s side with four games inside ten days.
Davies feels the Rams have handed the challenge well and believes eight points from a possible 12 represents a strong return from a challenging period.
He said: “We’ve taken eight points from the last four games and two points per game, on average, is what you look to aim for to try and go up.
“To come through this period unbeaten is really pleasing. The gaffer has made changes but as a team you still have to go and grind it out on the pitch; the lads have handled it really well.
“We know where we want to be in the table and where we want to stay; we’re in the top two and our goal is to get promoted.”
