Rams recover but will have to do it all again after Owls throw away their chance

Derby manager Jewell has found it tough since taking over from Billy Davies six weeks ago.

With only one point from his seven games in charge, the new incumbent at Pride Park was seeking an escape from the pressures of propping up the Barclays Premier League.

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Midway through the first half, nobody would have blamed him for tossing in the towel after his defence had caved in twice to put Wednesday within sight of the fourth round.

However, Derby showed hitherto hidden reserves of spirit to claw their way back into the tie and force a replay, although they were aided by defensive chaos in the visiting ranks.

Jewell said: "It looked like we were ripe for the picking after 23 minutes, didn't it?

"A draw doesn't look a great result but when we were two down we were staring down the barrel. I'm pleased we are still in the hat. Look, I have to take any crumb of comfort I can at the moment.

"We'd have lost that one heavily a month ago. We have come back and we haven't done that since I've been here. It may seem strange that I'm happy but after 23 minutes it was looking pretty grim."

Derby's £2million signing Emanuel Villa was paraded around the ground before the kick-off.

With Danny Mills making his debut, a contract offer on the table for Laurent Robert and Hossam Ghaly and a scrap developing over £1.5m Blackburn midfielder Robbie Savage, the club are making good on their promise not to go down without a fight.

The 2-2 scoreline at the interval suggested an exciting encounter but anyone present will confirm that defensive frailties rather than attacking genius were the main cause of the goal glut.

Wednesday profited first after nine minutes, when 18-year-old centre half Mark Beevers swung a leg at the ball on the edge of the area and Derby's Wales goalkeeper Lewis Price let it slip through his grasp.

If Wednesday fans thought lightning couldn't strike twice, they were wrong.

Midway through the half Wednesday skipper Lee Bullen's ball down the right was headed into the air by Darren Moore.

The big Derby defender dithered when it came down and Marcus Tudgay, who didn't enjoy the happiest of times when he was a Derby player, volleyed across Price and into the net. Tudgay then headed just over 10 minutes before the interval.

Sheffield Wednesday manager Brian Laws said: "That would have been game over."

As it was, Derby's Scotland striker Kenny Miller atoned for slicing an effort wide moments earlier by chesting down Craig Fagan's deflected pass and rifling it home after 38 minutes.

Then, in first-half added time, the visitors exposed their soft underbelly once more as they failed to clear a corner adequately and Giles Barnes took the ball down on his thigh before firing low into the net from the edge of the area.

Wednesday hover one point above the Championship relegation zone.

Yet their second-half display — one glaring miss from Eddie Lewis apart — left manager Laws strangely disappointed at the final whistle.

Particularly after referee Phil Dowd had ruled out an effort from another Derby old boy, Deon Burton, seven minutes from time for offside.

This was the first time the official had been in charge of a game in which Jewell was a manager since the Scouser's infamous outburst at the Emirates Stadium last season.

But Jewell's opposite number said: "I'm going to be more disappointed than Paul.

"We said in the dressing room beforehand that if we scored first we had a great chance because Derby had never recovered from going a goal down. So when we went two-up I thought that our luck was in.

"We looked comfortable. I'm disappointed that we conceded the two goals. The defending for their goals could have been better and I know the defending for ours could have been."