That was as well as we have played for a considerable time Rams boss Nigel Clough

Derby County manager Nigel Clough says his side's display in the 1-0 loss to promotion-chasing Hull has convinced him they can avoid relegation.

The Rams are just five points clear of the Championship drop zone after a dire run of 10 defeats in 14 league games.

But Clough told BBC Radio Derby: "The players are on the floor. They can't believe they can play like that, put so much in and not even get a point.

"As long as we play like that for the next 14 games, we'll be okay."

Clough's side have just one win in their last 15 league fixtures - and during that run they also bowed out of the FA Cup against non-league side Crawley Town.

But Clough was in defiant mood and said that an injury to first-choice goalkeeper Stephen Bywater typifies their bad luck at the moment.

Bywater was forced off with a muscle injury after the interval and, with back-up keeper Saul Deeney also sidelined with a shoulder injury suffered in training on Monday, Clough was forced to hand a league debut to 19-year-old James Severn.

Clough added: "Stephen gets injured and the young lad comes on and misses a corner and it seems that every little thing is going against us at the moment.

"But that was as well as we have played for a considerable time.

"We put them under pressure and I think they only had two or three efforts in the 90 minutes. We are still not quite sure how we got nothing from the game.

"You can look at the performance and say, 'how can a team who have lost so many games recently put on a performance like that and still get nothing from it'.

"We just want the same as we have played tonight for the next 14 games."

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