Nigel Clough lauds Derby County spirit

Derby County manager Nigel Clough has lauded his team's spirit following their 2-2 draw at Middlesbrough in the Championship this evening.

The Rams produced a spirited performance to snatch a point through Paul Coutts's late equaliser, but Clough believes that his side could have taken all three.

"To come back from 2-1 down with minutes to go means the spirit and honesty of these lads is not in question," he told Sky Sports News.

"We have certain principles when we score a goal, we have to get the ball back and not give it away for a few minutes but we didn't do that.

Clough went on to say that a few sloppy mistakes cost his side victory in the Riverside Stadium clash.

"There were two or three mistakes leading up to [Boro's equaliser], Jeff Hendrick giving the ball away on the halfway line then conceding the free-kick before Frank [Fielding] spilled it," he added.

"If we'd stopped any one of those then the ball wouldn't have gone in. And I don't think it would have been undeserved if we'd gone away with a 3-2 win."

The result leaves Derby in 13th place in the Championship table.