Curtis Davies was keen to look at the bigger picture following Derby County’s goalless draw against fellow top-six rivals Bristol City on Friday.
Derby had the better chances on the night at Pride Park Stadium but were forced to settle for a share of the spoils in an entertaining encounter.
Johnny Russell hit the crossbar in the first half from a free-kick, while Matej Vydra and Tom Lawrence forced fine saves from substitute goalkeeper Luke Steele in the second period.
Davies admitted while the Rams were disappointed not to claim all three points, it was important to extend their unbeaten run to nine matches in the Sky Bet Championship.
The point gained saw Gary Rowett’s side edge three points ahead of third-placed Cardiff City, who are in action on Saturday evening at Sheffield Wednesday.
Davies told RamsTV after the final whistle: “We had some good chances to put the game away tonight.
“Their substitute goalkeeper Luke Steele is a good friend of mine and he came on at half-time and made some good saves in the second half.
“It’s another game unbeaten and our run keeps going and, come the end of the season, it may well be a point gained for us.
“It’s one of those where if you can’t win you make sure you don’t lose.”
He added: “Although we had momentum and were going for the win late on, it was important to shut the back door and keep another clean sheet.
“We’ve been good at doing that lately and although we’re disappointed not to win, we remain positive and move on to the next game.”
Davies says Derby have a big 18 games ahead of them as the season’s closing stages edge ever closer.
The experienced defender believes the Rams need to keep their nerve and show their resilience to retain their spot in the promotion race.
The 32-year-old has tasted promotion to the Premier League in the past and knows what’s required as the games tick down.
He said: “We’ve got ourselves into a fantastic position in the table.
“The easy bit is getting up to second spot; the challenge is to stay there.
“Teams will go on good runs and after going on one ourselves in since September, people will expect us to have a blip of sorts.
“We want to make sure we don’t have that and if we have a disappointing result, we know the importance of bouncing back.”
