Steve Davies' 86th-minute effort from close range was enough to rescue a 1-1 draw against Blues, after Quincy Owusu-Abeyie had handed the visitors the lead with a stunning strike from the edge of the penalty area.

Birmingham, without being spectacular, had appeared in control up until the equaliser as the Rams enjoyed sporadic spells of possession without really testing goalkeeper Maik Taylor in what a high-tempo encounter.

Nevertheless, the result extends Derby's unbeaten run to five games and appears to be a solid upturn in fortunes - compared to their well-documented struggles up until just two weeks ago.

"I think for effort, determination and guts we deserved something from the game," said Jewell.

"We showed great character.

"We didn't create millions of chances - in fact hardly any chances really -but I don't think they did. It was an honest game.

"Both sides gave everything they had, and we definitely deserved something ... we maybe could have had a couple of penalties, but I don't know.

Jewell is hoping Derby can build on the start they have made.

"If we can add a bit of creativity to our game then we'll be heading in the right direction," he added.

"It's a rebuilding job after the horrors of last year, but last season we would have lost that game.

"We kept going and knocking at the door. We know we've got a never-say-die attitude."

The Rams boss, who admitted he may look at the loan market in order to find the aforementioned creativity, also reserved special praise for goalscorer Davies.

"He's going to be a good player, and we haven't seen the best of him yet," he said.

"He's a confident lad - you can see he wants to take free-kicks - and he's got a great left foot, even though he scored with his right foot. He's good in the air too."

Blues manager Alex McLeish was understandably disappointed to surrender two points but tried to remain upbeat, having seen his side cut the gap to leaders Wolves to just two points.

"When you surrender the lead at that stage of the game it feels like dropped points. But it's a tough venue to come, and Derby have been getting some good results lately," he said.

"They took some risks in the second half and they got their rewards. But I'm disappointed we didn't show more composure, and on the counter-attack we could have been more decisive.

"It was a great goal from Quincy. We looked very, very dangerous in the first half - and I thought things were coming together better."

McLeish knows where improvements need to be made.

"I still believe we can keep possession better and I think the forwards might benefit more if we can do that," he said.

"It's not all doom and gloom, but we like to beat ourselves up after a result like that and think of what might have been."