'Toe-to-toe': John Eustace's verdict on Derby County's dogged display during battling Burnley draw

The Clarets got embroiled in a real battle with the Rams, who are fighting tooth and nail to protect their Championship status.

Scott Parker’s men started the brighter and created two or three good openings, but he home side fought back and made life extremely uncomfortable for the Clarets, bombarding the box with long throws and corners.

Neither side were able to fashion a late winner, as Burnley played out their 12th goalless draw of the season to lose top spot.

As for Derby, Eustace said afterwards: “I’m just very proud with the effort of the group. I thought every player that was on the pitch was fantastic.

“The workrate was there, the desire was there and with the backing of 26,000 fans, who were right behind us, it was a good effort from everybody.

“I liked the way we stuck together, how dogged we were with and without the ball. We were very strong defensively and hard to play against. We limited Burnley to next to nothing in that second-half.

“We were a little bit tentative at times early on and not aggressive enough, but we grew into the game and I thought we ended the first-half very well. We were on the front foot and we had some chances from set pieces.

“In the second-half I felt we were very comfortable and I’m even a little disappointed we couldn’t nick a winner at the end.

“They’ve only conceded 12 goals all season, but we went toe-to-toe with them and did ourselves proud.”