McClaren hails Derby County character

Derby County manager Steve McClaren has praised his side for showing the character to bounce back and secure a playoff semi-final first-leg victory against Brighton & Hove Albion.

The Rams fell behind to Jesse Lingard's 18th-minute opener, before hitting back through Chris Martin's penalty and an unfortunate Thomas Kuszczak own goal to take a 2-1 advantage back to the iPro Stadium.

"Brighton came into the playoffs on a high and in the first 20 minutes they were quick out of the traps," McClaren told the club's official website. "They had a big crowd behind them and we expected them to put us under pressure.

"We didn't deal with those opening stages very well to be honest and conceded a poor goal. We came back and grew into the game and in the second half we had to be grateful for an impressive display in goal by Lee Grant.

"It took a lot of character to come back like we did and we'll need to show more of the same on Sunday in the second leg."

Queens Park Rangers and Wigan Athletic meet in the other semi-final clash.