Sheffield Wednesday failed to take their opportunity to go top of the League One table at the weekend as they could only secure a 0-0 away draw at fellow promotion rivals Derby County.
Both teams had opportunities to win all three points on the day with Fisayo Dele-Bashiru going close in the second half for the visitors - but it was the hosts that arguably had the better chances at Pride Park.
Although the Rams did have opportunities, a reasonably solid defensive performance from the Owls helped to keep out the Rams who looked dangerous at times when coming forward, even though they didn't have the quality to claim what would have been an impressive victory.
This performance from the back five would have been heartening for Darren Moore who will just be desperate to get to the January transfer window so he can add more depth to that area.
Ben Heneghan looks set to spend the remainder of the season on the sidelines and Michael Ihiekwe is also out for a couple of months after sustaining a knee ligament injury - a real blow for Wednesday who would have been hoping to have both of their summer additions at their disposal for the vast majority of the 2022/23 campaign.
The onus is now on others including Mark McGuinness, Dominic Iorfa, Liam Palmer, Akin Famewo and Reece James to step up to the plate and the latter certainly did that in the East Midlands.
It's no surprise that he was much more involved at the weekend than he usually is, making seven clearances against Paul Warne's men compared to the two he has made on average this season.
Also making nine interceptions compared to his average 5.45 during 2022/23, this proved to be crucial in halting the Rams' attacks with the hosts breaking forward at a considerable pace at times.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of his defensive contributions, coming out victorious in 75% of his defensive duels, two thirds of his aerial duels and 67% of his total duels, as well as making 15 recoveries.
Not only did he defend well - but he also remained extremely disciplined - not committing a single foul during the game and that's perhaps the most impressive statistic.
If he can continue to impress, manager Moore should definitely be looking into the possibility of making the defender's loan move from Blackpool a permanent one.