Derby County boss Gary Rowett has suggested that draws feel like losses to the Rams as they aim to get their promotion push back on track.

The East-Midlanders were only able to earn a point on Wednesday evening as they battled to draw 2-2 with Leeds United at Pride Park. On-loan Chelsea man, Kasey Palmer netted an injury time equaliser for the Rams which left them in fourth in the Championship, five points off of the automatic promotion places.

However, Rowett has said that draws are simply not good enough at this stage of the season.

'We feel like we have lost'

Talking after his side's draw with the Yorkshire outfit, he said: "Once again, we feel like we have lost. Every game we draw at the moment, it feels like you’ve lost just because we’re at that stage of the season, that’s the reality. It’s one defeat in 14."

"We’re at the stage of the season where a point almost doesn’t mean a lot. You need to win games."

Despite having only lost one out of their last 14 games and still being seven points clear of seventh-placed Sheffield United, Derby have only won one out of their last six games - that being a 3-0 victory over Brentford.

'I find it ridiculous'

Regardless of the slump in form in recent weeks, Rowett has said that it could possibly have been blown out of proportion and that the Rams' annual February stutter is nothing but a myth. The 43-year-old has also suggested that their cause is not helped by comparisons to past years where the club have failed to gain promotion.

He continued: "The problem we’ve got as a club in my opinion and I don’t really know the answer other than us getting promoted is every defeat is magnified massively by the last four years. We lost against Sheffield Wednesday, our first defeat in 14 and everyone starts talking about the February wobble that Derby always have.

"I find it ridiculous to be honest. What it does is that it puts everyone on edge. The fans become on edge in the stadium when we’re not winning."

Derby County next do battle with strugglers Reading at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday afternoon.