Newspaper round-up: Fulham v Derby

Here is how the major news outlets saw our draw at home to Derby:

Billy Davies should have celebrated Derby's first away win but 10-man Fulham survived an onslaught - so he had a pop at Lawrie Sanchez instead, according to Antony Kastrinakis in The Sun. "Amazingly Cottagers boss Sanchez claimed Fulham outplayed Derby in the second half and that Davies was begging the ref for the final whistle, yet such was Derby's dominance that Fulham keeper Antti Niemi was by far the best man on the pitch," he wrote. "It was right that Rams chief Davies mocked Sanchez and suggested the bespectacled Londoners boss should buy...a pair of specs."

Despite their long injury list, the home side made five changes from the side beaten 2-0 by Portsmouth a fortnight earlier, pointed out Colin Malam in the Telegraph, and the best decision was restoring the Finnish stopper to the starting line-up. "A dire first half is easily summarised," he wrote. "With defensive midfielder Dean Leacock launching attacks intelligently from deep, Derby looked a half decent side. Twice Niemi had to save at his near post, from Kenny Miller then Eddie Lewis, before frantically stopping Aaron Hughes heading an own goal from a Stephen Pearson cross."

The low autumn sun that shone over Craven Cottage meant those watching in the Johnny Haynes stand had to shield their eyes if they wished to see any of the action, noted Evan Fanning in The Independent, but at times they needn't have bothered. "For two teams supposedly battling for their lives it was a decidedly underwhelming affair, which only came to life when Fulham's Paul Konchesky was sent off just before half-time."

This clash had been pencilled in as a must-win by Sanchez, but the flash of temper by his left back which led to an instant red card left him looking at the scoreline as a point gained rather than two surrendered, agreed Steve Stammers in the Sunday Mirror. "Paul Konchesky was once talked of as a defender with the potential to be an England regular," he added. "Yesterday he showed the maturity and responsibility of an errant teenager as he let his team down just when they needed him most - and illustrated just why he will remain a two-cap wonder."

Despite his early departure from the game, which happened on the stroke of half-time, Fulham "coped well", according to The Mail on Sunday's Simon Cass, although it was the "man-of-the-match performance" from Niemi that prevented the visitors from claiming their second Premier League victory.

It also helped spare the team from "an even louder burst of derision than the hearty booing which assailed them as they left the field", noted David Lacey in The Guardian. "Fulham have produced some sound performances this season but their only league win was back in mid-August and on Saturday they clearly lacked confidence."

The Sun's Kastrinakis insisted there were no positives for Fulham from the result - despite the fact it was achieved with 10 men - and suggested it was "nothing short of a disaster" to draw at home against a side which was bottom of the league and with a woeful away record. "With fellow strugglers Sunderland and Reading up next Fulham are fast running out of games where they can realistically expect to pick up enough points to pull themselves away," he added. "It's crunch time."