Derby County boss admits his side didn't deserve to beat 'magnificent' Peterborough United

Rosenior, who made no comment about a controversial red card for Posh defender Nathan Thompson which had a huge bearing on the result, said his side were nowhere near their best as they relied on two late goals to beat a team reduced to 10 men for the final 40 minutes.

The win moved Derby up to sixth in League One still a point and two placed behind Posh.

"There's a spirit, a togetherness and an energy at this football club at the moment that keeps people going and fighting through adversity,” Rosenior told the Derby press corps. “The fans sing about fighting to the end. I was very proud of the players and the fans as we didn’t play to our level.

"There were many faults in our performance. It was by far our worst performance of the season, but we’ve played much better than that and not got anything or got draws, so I'm delighted with the three points, and I'm delighted with the character and resilience of the group.

"It was a little bit of payback for us as a group today because we've deserved maximum points from our first five games, in terms of the domination and control we've had. Today, not so much.

"We didn’t deserve the win. But look at the effort Peterborough had to put in to stop us scoring. They tired towards the end and we get that breakthrough and then went to win the game against a team who will definitely be among the promotion contenders this season.

"You have to give Peterborough credit as they were magnificent with 10 men, although they perhaps paid for it towards the end. Their players were a credit to Grant McCann

"I did feel we could win if we managed to equalise and it’s a great platform for the rest of the season.”