Nigel Clough was delighted with the way Derby responded to being knocked out of the FA Cup by beating Preston on their return to Championship action.

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The Rams boss saw his side beaten 2-1 by Birmingham at the weekend but they are now in the top half of the league table after a 5-3 home win over North End.

Clough attributes their turnaround in fortunes to having a settled side after an injury-plagued campaign.

"Once again we saw the benefits of an unchanged side, a team playing with confidence and the most pleasing thing was how we reacted to the disappointment from Saturday," said Clough.

"We could have easily been in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, we got knocked out in the 92nd minute.

"But we set about Preston from the first whistle and created plenty of chances and we'll forego a little bit of the defensive solidity we've had to score five goals, that's inevitable. We're not going to be that solid when we're going forward as much as we did."