Derby County extended their unbeaten run at Pride Park to nine league games on Wednesday night, as they drew 1-1 with Sheffield Wednesday.

The Rams' home form is the only thing that's keeping them afloat at the moment - Phillip Cocu's side had won five of their last six games heading into Wednesday night's clash with the Owls.

Their away form, on the other hand, has been simply dismal this term, having been unable to record a victory away from home since the win at Huddersfield way back in August.

After a terrible first-half performance from Derby on Wednesday night, Garry Monk's men made them pay for sloppy passing in the middle of the park. Barry Bannan intercepted Craig Forsyth's loose pass, and Steven Fletcher curled in an unstoppable first-time effort soon after.

The Rams didn't register their first shot on target until the 80th minute, with Cocu's side being dominated for the large part and producing a rather toothless performance in front of goal.

But the pendulum finally swung in their favour late on - Moses Odubajo bundled over Jack Marriott inside the area, and Chris Martin stepped up to equalise from 12 yards.

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Odubajo was then dismissed for a second yellow card moments later, but Derby were unable to pile on the pressure and the points were subsequently shared.

Here, then, we take a look at three things we clearly learnt about Derby after their draw with the Owls...

They lack presence in midfield

One thing that was fairly obvious to see on Wednesday night is that the game looked like men against boys for the large part.

Especially in the first-half, Wednesday asserted their dominance in midfield with the likes of Sam Hutchinson and Adam Reach, who looked far bigger and stronger than Jason Knight and Duane Holmes.

Derby missed that bite and power in the middle of the park, something that Krystian Bielik provides on a weekly basis, although the Rams can't just rely on the former Arsenal man every game.

Wednesday are a big, physical unit in every area of the pitch, and the Rams failed to cope with that.

Morgan Whittaker isn't ready just yet

The night saw Morgan Whittaker make his first ever league start for the Rams after a string of impressive cameos from off the bench.

The young winger looked bright after coming on against Fulham, Hull, QPR and Blackburn, but on Wednesday evening, he struggled to settle into the game and make an impact from the off.

He made a couple of decent runs, but ultimately. Wednesday's defence was too strong for him to cause any real damage, and he found it tough to complete any dribbles or take any players on.

The 18-year-old was then replaced by Martyn Waghorn in the 68th minute, and after the game, Cocu admitted that he isn't ready to start games regularly just yet."

Defensive errors are costing them massively

A howler from Craig Forsyth gave Wednesday a deserved lead in the first-half, playing a suicidal sideways pass to Duane Holmes which was cut out far too easily by Bannan.

There was almost a carbon copy of that goal in the second-half too. Forsyth, again, giving the ball away to Adam Reach, whose cross was headed narrowly over by Fletcher.

Having chucked away all three points against Nottingham Forest due to Jayden Bogle's terrible backpass, Derby need to start concentrating and focus on erasing these errors from their game.

It gives them a massive mountain to climb.