Manager Billy Davies has revealed he could not bear to watch the Pride Park penalty shootout which propelled the Rams into the Championship play-off final at Wembley.

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.

"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".

Davies also confirmed goalkeeper Stephen Bywater was ready to take Derby's fifth spot-kick, had he been needed.

"The fifth penalty-taker was going to be Bywater, and he was very confident," said Davies.

"We have been practising penalties in training and I have been watching them and talking to them about their angles and so on.

"We wanted less consistency - especially from Stevie Howard - in how they ran up and how they placed their kicks.

"But it is difficult to recreate the sensation of being out there and taking a penalty in the stadium".

For seven pages of Rams v Saints coverage, don't miss today's Daily Echo.