Three points at home, one point away is often seen as a perfect mantra and that is the start to the season that the Swans have had thanks to a fine penalty save from Freddie Woodman and a good display at Pride Park.

Derby will be one of those sides that you expect to be there or therabouts come the end of the season and with the signing of Wayne Rooney (in January) this week then, as you would have anticipated, feelings were strong around Pride Park as they looked to build on their opening weekend win over Huddersfield.

No longer is Frank Lampard leading their team but in Phillip Cocu they have someone with equal (or better?) international pedigree and whilst they may be missing some of their stars of last season there will be more points lost by visiting sides there this season than gained.

From our point of view, Steve Cooper's side went into the game on the back of a complete winning run under his management and looking to add to our opening day win where we came back from a goal down to beat Hull at the Liberty.

With those thoughts in our mind, this promised to be a good game and it didn't disappoint between two sides who seemed to be equally matched as it proved throughout the game.

There were periods when one or the other was on top as you would expect. The main talking point was of course the penalty at the end. The Swans could feel (rightly?) aggrieved that the kick had been given the first place but the save from Woodman was a good one and it kept the game on an even keel at a point when we probably most needed it.

The decision was one of several from the referee who certainly seemed to favour the home side who sang(presumably with a level of irony!) in the second half that they "only got sh*t refs" On a weekend when VAR was introduced into the Premier League you started to wonder what difference it could have made to this particular game, probably none but Woodman's moment of glory could well have been denied him had the penalty not been given.

Borja Baston was a constant threat to the Derby defence in the first half and they would have been glad to see him changed in the second with Sam Surridge making his debut. Whether it was the natural pattern of the game or just that we lost some presence at that point but the Swans never looked likely winners following the double sub at that point and Derby certainly controlled the large part of the final twenty minutes of the game.

But come the final whistle, after nine minutes of stoppage time and you had a strong away point in what will be - at this stage on paper - one of the toughest tests away from home this season. If we can use the springboard of the opening two performances next week against Preston then August is shaping up to be a very good month for us indeed.

In between of course we have the cup game against Northampton on Tuesday night which feels an ideal chance for Cooper to give some more match time to those players new to the squad and also some of the fringe players which will only benefit us in the longer run.

But make no mistake this was a very good point away from home with some very encouraging performances. Long may that continue. All we have to hope is that the injury to Kalulu is not bad and he will be back in the team relatively soon “We don’t know the situation on Aldo,” said SteveCooper after the game.

“I am hoping, with it being his first game, it was a bit of cramp."

Steve Cooper

"But it's a decent point. Freddy saved a penalty, which was justice really for an average decision looking back. It wasn't a bad penalty, it was a really good save.

"We'll get back into training and look forward to a cup tie on Tuesday night."

Phillip Cocu

"We're disappointed but we also saw good elements in the game. I'm happy that the whole team is trying to do what we want.

"It's my first home league game and it was a great atmosphere and we had great support for the team."

Photo: Action Images

elliotthiago added 15:45 - Apr 27 His positioning and movement off the ball is top notch for the sort of young player, has pace to burn and is already an excellent finisher. Now that he's gambling on the proper and reducing inner he's been devastating and beginning to recognise his complete potential. Could properly be a big star at this upcoming international Cup. https://www.assignmentsquare.co.uk/

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