Paul Warne may regret recent Derby County comments after draw v Burnley | OneFootball

The Rams fought against the odds to hold the Clarets to a 0-0 draw at Turf Moor on Tuesday.

Derby County stopped a run of three consecutives defeats on Tuesday evening as they held Burnley FC to a 0-0 draw Turf Moor.

Paul Warne's side fought incredibly well against a team who were playing in the Premier League just last season, and nullified any Clarets threat throughout the game, while also having chances themselves to take all three points.

It was a huge improvement on the Rams' 2-0 loss to Leeds United on Saturday, a game in which they struggled to throw any punches at their opponents, leaving supporters incredibly frustrated as those below them began to catch up.

However, Derby's draw against Burnley was proof that they can compete against those towards the upper end of the table when they play with more attacking prowess and do not sit back and accept defeat.

Although losing to a team such as Leeds is nothing to be ashamed of, the manner of defeat was a huge cause for concern. The Rams set up for damage limitation from the off, and barely laid a finger on their opponents as they eased to victory.

Derby had just three shots at Elland Road, with all of them coming late on in the second-half as Daniel Farke's side controlled the match. However, against Burnley, they tested James Trafford six times, and worked some excellent chances for themselves.

Jerry Yates should have done better with an opportunity that he had with just an hour on the clock, with Trafford closing down the angle to deny the Rams' number 10 a clear line of sight at goal, before Marcus Harness narrowly struck wide in injury time.

Nevertheless, it was a much better performance from the East Midlands side, just days after their manager had made some honest and rash comments.

He said to BBC Radio Derby after the defeat on Saturday: "We are playing a Premier League team with a League One team with a bit of sugar on top.

"The lads competed really well which I'm proud of. You just don't want to be open and that brave that you get ripped apart."

However, his players proved him wrong on Tuesday, and maybe even used those comments as extra motivation to take a point from Turf Moor, something that only four others have done so far this season.

Derby need to take this courage into Friday's clash with Portsmouth

While the point is a good one in isolation, to ensure that it was worth the battle, Derby must follow it up with victory on Friday against Portsmouth.

They welcome Pompey to Pride Park Stadium in the two teams' first meeting since they both won promotion to the Championship from League One last season.

They have drawn their last four matches against one another, but this is the first time since 2012 that they have met in the second tier, bringing a new prestige back to the fixture.

A win for Derby will mean that they end the week with four points from three games, with two of those matches coming against top three teams in the division.

It is vital that they put more distance between themselves and the bottom three, and victory will give even more confidence to a team who have took all three points in just one of their last 11 games.