Stephen Bywater saves the day as lacklustre Derby edge out Millwall

Life does not get any easier for Nigel Clough or Derby County. Having seen his first year as manager end with comprehensive defeat at the hands of Scunthorpe United last Saturday, a result which left the Rams dangerously close to the Championship's relegation zone, another substandard performance saw them need the latest of extra-time equalisers before beating League One Millwall on penalties in their FA Cup third-round replay last night. Only during the penalties, none of which they missed, did Derby finally look like the side from the higher division. Steven Davies cancelled out Steve Morison's 108th-minute goal to take the game to a shoot-out and Dean Moxey scored the winning spot-kick after Stephen Bywater saved Millwall's second penalty by Danny Schofield "I thought there was grit and determination, and at times in difficult conditions, some quite reasonable play," said Clough. "I was very pleased with that, but the players know it's black and white now. They either do their jobs or they don't do their jobs." Unlike his father, Clough has always tended to discretion in his public pronouncements but such was his disgust with his side's efforts against Scunthorpe, he said he would only pick "honest" players. Not surprisingly his selection was awaited with some interest, and the fact his options are limited by the size of his squad cannot have made the experienced striker Rob Hulse, who started against the Iron but found himself on the bench last night, feel any happier. County should have taken the lead in the 10th minute, when Lee Croft's pass put Stephen Pearson clear but the midfielder never looked confident of beating David Forde, and the Millwall keeper blocked the shot with some ease. It quickly became clear that Derby's lack of confidence extended to the back four. Morison outmuscled Miles Addison before shooting wide, and the tendency of the youngsters Jake Buxton and Moxey to panic under pressure was marked. Marc Laird grazed the post with a header from Chris Hackett's corner, and had Lewis Grabban passed to the unmarked David Martin instead of shooting, the Lions would surely have gone in at half-time ahead. Commons, running on to a Lee Johnson chip, lobbed the ball over Forde but wide of the post five minutes after the break but the game resumed its fractured nature. It badly needed a goal and shortly after the hour should have had one when Porter, unmarked, met Pearson's low cross inside the six yard box. Somehow the centre-forward side-footed the ball against the bar, and the crowd, at just over 7,000 the lowest ever seen at Pride Park, reacted with a level of weary disbelief which suggested expectations have become worryingly low. Millwall could not have come closer to going ahead in the first period of extra-time when Scott Barron's shot from 22 yards beat Bywater, but came back off the inside of the goalkeeper's left-hand post. It was almost a similar story in the second period when Morison's header from a corner unnecessarily conceded by Gary Teale also hit the post. This time the ball rebounded kindly, and Morison poked it past Bywater and into the net. That looked like that but with time running out, Davies found the composure that had eluded his team-mates all evening to chip the ball over Forde after Paul Green's pass put him clear.