Clough stays upbeat despite draw

04 March 2009 08:59
It looked like the Rams would continue their climb away from the Championship relegation zone with a third straight win at Pride Park after Chris Porter marked his full home debut with his first goals for the club. Angel Rangel halved Swansea's deficit but the comeback never really looked like materialising and a third Derby goal always looked more likely than an equaliser. Clough's side piled on the pressure as the Swans took risks to get back into the game, and Rob Hulse and Steve Davies both struck posts. But substitute Gorka Pintado rescued a point for the Welsh side five minutes from time to keep them firmly in the play-off hunt. Clough said: "In some ways it is points thrown away because we were 2-0 up, but I don't think we could have done much more to get a victory. "The performance was as good as anything we have had in the last seven or eight weeks I have been at the club. "It was against a quality team and that is the encouraging thing. We have played teams in and around us but Swansea, positionally in the league, are probably one of the best teams we have faced. "Taking that into consideration, I am extremely pleased with the level of performance and I would take a display like that every week." Porter opened his account for Derby following his January arrival from Motherwell with two well-taken goals. Clough added: "He scored two good goals, one in the six yard box and a good finish when one-on-one. "It is very difficult when you are one-on-one and he did very well. "I thought he and Rob Hulse were a handful up front throughout the game." Swansea boss Roberto Martinez was understandably pleased to return to south Wales with a point and praised the 'never-say-die' attitude of his players. "I think we had a mature performance at the end. It was a difficult environment for us - it is a Premier League environment coming to Derby," said the Spaniard. "I was pleased with that but we didn't start the game well and we got punished, and again in the second half. "But the character and personality and never-say-die attitude and bravery to open the game up, I think, made us worthy of a point in the end." It was Swansea's 17th league draw of the season. Asked whether he thought their failure to turn one point into three is detrimental to their play-off hopes, Martinez added: "Not really. "If you look at our squad last season we were playing League One football. "We are trying to grow and learn with every game and for us every draw is a point gained. "In many of them we have done everything but taken the three points but this is the first time this season where it feels like we have gained a point with a draw because this is the worst we have played when we have taken something out of a game."

Source: Team_Talk