Clough content despite exit

The Rams were seen off 2-0 by last season's beaten finalists at Pride Park.

Goals from Cameron Jerome and Robert Huth put them to the sword and saw their cup dreams dashed for another year.

While disappointed to have bowed out of the competition on home soil, Clough was pleased with the level of performance put in by his side.

He said: "They are hard to create chances against. They went to Anfield the other week and Liverpool struggled to create chances against them. We did at times today.

"I'm pleased with everything apart from the first goal. To concede after five minutes, with a player in an offside position, you are looking for the officials to be a bit better in that situation."

Good spell

Asked if conceding two goals from set-pieces had left him frustrated, Clough added: "We can't do anything about the first one if the guy is offside, we can't defend against that. There is certainly no blame for that one. The second one, in the air, you expect to get done a little bit.

"If it had been 0-0 in the 15-20 minutes before half-time, when we had a good spell, we might have got something."

Derby's attention now turns to a promotion push in the Championship and Clough believes there are plenty of positives they can take from their showing against Stoke.

He said: "We played some good stuff, we knocked it about a bit and maybe didn't get a decision or two go our way on the edge of the box.

"You need everything to go for you in these sort of cup ties, you need a break here and there, and we didn't quite get it today."