Nottingham Forest took a share of the spoils in a tense and edgy East Midlands derby on Sunday afternoon. 

The game ended 0-0, extending Forest's unbeaten run to six games and Karanka was honest in his assessment of proceedings.

“It was fair, it was another emotional game; it was a typical derby. I am pleased because the team is improving,” reports the Derby Telegraph.

“It is true that we could not get a goal, but we have competed against one of the best teams in the league. They are in the play-off positions and they have been working together for more than a year, while this squad has been working together for a month."

It could have been much different for Forest if they'd been able to press home their man advantage, Derby having Tom Huddlestone sent off after 81 minutes.

In truth, Forest keeper Costel Pantilimon's double save from Tom Lawrence and David Nugent was the closest either side came to scoring, but Karanka acknowledged that his side are very much a work in progress.

“It is impossible to work together for one month, when you have so many games. It is difficult. To play well, you need to work and train and we have not had time to work, but if you cannot play in the way you would like to play, you have to build a team on the pitch. When we have had more time, we will play better and we will score goals.”

Forest didn't manage a shot on target all match, but taking a point from their bitter rivals in the promotion race will be reward enough for their endeavours. The result doesn't really make a difference to Forest, they're 15 clear of third-bottom Birmingham and 16 adrift of sixth-placed Middlesbrough.

However, with them appearing incredibly hard to beat, there is plenty for fans to be excited about when looking ahead to life under former Middlesbrough boss Karanka.

The Verdict

Karanka had a 46% win percentage at Middlesbrough, a number to be admired over a three and a half year stint.

In Nottingham Forest he has a sleeping giant on his hands, two-times European Cup winners who have now had 18 years outside the top flight. The early signs are very positive and whilst there's a long way to go, I can't help but feel with the right backing he could achieve good things at the City Ground.

His assessment of yesterday's game is a little off though, the Rams had nine more shots, two more on target. For a derby that brought so much expectation, two shots on goal from either side in 90 minutes is incredibly disappointing.