Davies celebrates thrilling win

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Derby booked their place in the Wembley showpiece by beating Southampton 4-3 in a shootout on Tuesday night.

Davies said: "I could not watch the penalties so I just sat on the bench with my head down and twiddled my fingers. I knew whether they were going in our not by listening to the reaction of the crowd."

Holding a 2-1 advantage following Saturday's first-leg clash at St Mary's, the Rams were beaten 3-2 over the regulation 90 minutes as Saints forced extra time at 4-4 on aggregate.

But the additional 30 minutes produced no goals, meaning penalties were taken in front of the stadium's south stand and the 4,878 travelling fans, who saw Leon Best and Inigo Idiakez, a former County player, miss.

That meant the Rams were not required to take their final penalty following the successes of David Jones, Steve Howard, Giles Barnes and Jay McEveley.

Davies added: "When Southampton missed their first one I just thought to myself, 'we have got to take this to the end' and we got what we deserved.

"But it must have been an absolute nightmare for Southampton to have gone out on penalties, a real sickener for their players, management and fans to have gone out like that."

Southampton counterpart George Burley - who was Rams boss in 2005 when Preston, then under Davies' charge, knocked Derby out of the play-offs at the same stage - declared neither Best nor Idiakez were to blame for Saints' downfall.

Burley said: "What can you say to players after something like that? We just have to take it on the chin."