Derby leave Maine Road with draw

'I didn't hear any boos but if there is one club who cannot criticise its fans then it is this one,' he said. 'They have their opinions and they are entitled to them. At the moment, we are feeling our way a little bit. There's a time in games when you can see the nerves fraying.

'It's mental strength that will get us through. You have to want the ball when things are not going for you. Had we got an early goal then everybody would have grown in confidence.

'We could have had the game won after three minutes, we started so well. But we didn't score and the game changed.

'In the end we have had a bit of luck and the crossbar worked for us for a change. That was nice.' While Royle asserted that this game could have ended 4-4, Smith, ventured that it could have been 8-4 in Derby's favour.

Both were exaggerating - one presumes, anyway - but there certainly was no shortage of drama. Unfortunately, the script was invariably ruined by shoddy finishing. Derby goalkeeper Mart Poom saved from Alfie Haaland within 30 seconds of the start as City showed the promise that can typify their play, and before five minutes had passed, Poom had also denied Wanchope and Richard Dunne, while Seth Johnson hacked another effort off the line.

Derby appeared to be operating without a defence but once Taribo West, Horacio Carbonari and Chris Riggott located each other, City found it more difficult to penetrate. Poom saved spectacularly again from two Wanchope headers as the first half ended but by then Malcolm Christie had failed twice when clean through, while Craig Burley had steadied himself quite correctly in front of an open goal before hacking a shot over the bar in a manner befitting a nervous schoolboy.

If Smith was baffled by that then heaven knows what he made of the incident that summed up the game in the 47th minute.

Georgi Kinkladze's through pass gave Deon Burton a clear opportunity but when his shot bounced down from the underside of the bar only Christie will know why he chose to flick the ball once more against the bar with his heel rather than head it in to the open goal. 'He's not usually flash but that was flashy and I don't know why he did it,' reflected Smith, who professed himself to be disappointed but in fact has reason to be satisfied. Previous victories over Coventry and Newcastle had already relieved the pre-Christmas pressure and his side are no longer showing the anxious, kamikaze tendencies exhibited now by City.

Royle perhaps needs a reliable centre forward as Goater and Wanchope have scored just eight goals between them in the Premiership.

Perhaps even more, however, he needs some brave hearts and calm minds.