Sunderland put in another uninspired away performance, as they picked up a point against basement side Derby County.

Kieran Richardson started his first game after six weeks out, as Roy Keane made three changes - Richardson came in for Dickson Etuhu, while the suspended Danny Collins was replaced by Danny Higginbotham. Michael Chopra replaced Grant Leadbitter in midfield, with Leadbitter named on the subs bench.

Sunderland had a good chance to take the lead in the fourth minute, when Daryl Murphy's shot struck the inside of the post in what was the game's first real effort. That came after a few half chances were cleared away by a Derby back line that included former Sunderland man Alan Stubbs - and after Murphy's shot, it was more of the same, as crosses forward were repeatedly cut out.

Craig Gordon had to collect his first shot on ten minutes, before our counter attack came to an end as Nyron Nosworthy's punt forward missed Murphy and trickled all the way through for Roy Carroll to collect. Back at the other end, Kenny Miller's turn and shot went wide for the Rams, as our next effort saw an unmarked Michael Chopra head Andy Reid's cross over on 15 minutes.

Murphy tested Carroll with another left footed effort moments later, as we were temporarily reduced to ten men as Jonny Evans needed treatment following an errant elbow from Mile Sterjovski. Dean Whitehead had to dive in to block Eddie Lewis' 27th minute shot, as the first half ended with Sunderland on a high, although Chopra saw a goal rightly chalked off for offside, as Alan Stubbs' deflection in the final minute of normal time on Higginbotham's cross narrowly went just wide as the former Toffee avoided scoring an own goal against his former club.

Kenwyne Jones narrowly missed a Kieran Richardson cross shortly after the restart, but neither side found themselves able to carve out chances. Jones tried a long distance shot that went straight to Carroll from 35 yards out, as the Rams got their tails up as the second half wore on. Kenny Miller sliced an effort well off target in the 77th minute, before Craig Gordon took out the ball and Danny Higginbotham as he punched away an effort from substitute Craig Fagan.

The final five minutes were played out at a frantic pace, with Anthony Stokes dragging the ball across the face of goal, as Higginbotham saw an injury time effort blocked by Hossam Ghaly. The Rams did finish stoppage time with a few efforts that we were able to mop up, but in the end a point was about right from both team's performances. We should have done better - and we'll not have a better chance to pick up our first away win of the season!

Sunderland: Gordon, Bardsley, Nosworthy, Evans, Higginbotham, Chopra, Whitehead, K Richardson, Reid (sub 66, Leadbitter), Jones, Murphy (sub 80, Stokes). Subs: Fulop, McShane, Prica.

Derby: Carroll, Edworthy, Moore, Stubbs, McEveley, Sterjovski (sub 66, Fagan), Jones (sub 57, Ghaly), Pearson, Lewis, Miller (sub 80, Earnshaw), Villa. Subs: Price, Feilhaber.