DERBY County's first win in five matches and only their third in a dozen outings was much-needed as the Championship entered another international break.

Rams manager Nigel Clough admits it would have been an "extremely long" two weeks had his team not taken anything from last Friday's home game against Coventry City.

They trailed as early as the fourth minute when Leon Best kept his balance to cleverly drive a half volley wide of Stephen Bywater whose weak punch had only served to keep the ball alive in Derby's area.

Rob Hulse struck twice in 14 second-half minutes to turn the contest Derby's way, and there was relief and delight at the final whistle as the 2-1 victory halted a run of three consecutive defeats.

Coventry are on the slide and now need a good result themselves.

They were competitive, although there were too many lunges rather than timed tackles from the Sky Blues – notably from Elliott Ward and young full-back Jordan Carke.

But Chris Coleman's team has not been helped by injuries, something Derby know all about. The Rams deserved the three points and climbed three places in the table to 17th.

There are now six clubs locked on 17 points, highlighting that there is little to choose between so many teams in the division.

Clough was pleased with the win and the manner of the victory. He felt his team displayed tremendous character to hit back after falling behind.

Now he hopes Derby can kick on once the action resumes. The Rams' next game is at Swansea on November 20.

"As important as the result against Coventry was for us, it sent the supporters home happy which we haven't done to often," said Clough.

"We played well at Ipswich and didn't get our rewards but we did against Coventry.

"In the first half, we missed a great chance just before the break and had what looked like a penalty turned down.

"There were even a couple of deflections in front of goal which took the ball just wide.

"We are still not quite getting those breaks. If we do, we will turn 2-1 leads into more comfortable victories, we hope.

"It would have been an extremely long two-week break if we hadn't got anything from the game.

"We hope we can kick on because it has been a struggle in the last few weeks.

"Only time will tell if we can press on. We felt if we could get some players back from injury we would have a better chance of winning matches and improving performances."

Derby are three points above the bottom three after the weekend matches.

Peterborough United replaced Ipswich at the foot of the table after losing 3-1 to leaders Newcastle United at St James' Park.

"Out of every game I've got to take positives but we just don't give ourselves a chance," said Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson, who watched his team fall two down inside 20 minutes.

"We spoke at length about trying to keep tight and trying to get control of the game quickly."

Ipswich and Reading are both in the drop zone after their 1-1 draw at the Madejski Stadium.

Reading are without a home win in 16 league games.

"It was a game we came into with big confidence but gave ourselves a mountain to climb by giving away a goal at the beginning. It was a stupid goal," said Reading manager Brendan Rodgers.

"We had some really good moments in the first half but failed to capitalise."

Ipswich boss Roy Keane thought a draw was a fair result.

"They (Reading) had more of the possession and put us under pressure," said Keane. "They are a big, strong side – which surprised me.

"I thought our last two performances were perhaps the poorest for a month. But we got results – and I always say that if you get results the table sorts itself out."

Plymouth climbed out of the bottom three by beating Doncaster Rovers 2-1 at Home Park. They have now joined Rovers on 15 points.

Doncaster played for 40 minutes with 10 men after Martin Woods was shown a second yellow card. Rory Fallon finished well after Jamie Mackie's shot had been saved to earn Plymouth the win with 19 minutes left.

Scunthorpe lost 4-1 at Blackpool after taking the lead.

The visitors then lost goalkeeper Matt Gilks who was sent off for handling the ball outside his area.

"We came with a good gameplan and it really worked for us. Blackpool are an excellent side but they could not find a way round our formation in the first half," said Scunthorpe boss Nigel Adkins.

"Then we got one up and all of a sudden things fell apart in a five-minute period when we got our keeper sent off. I feel sorry for him but the referee had no option and from then on we were up against it."

Sheffield Wednesday, their city rivals United, and Barnsley are also on 17 points in a congested lower half of the table.

Wednesday lost 2-1 at home to Queens Park Rangers.

"We did enough to win but football can be cruel at times," said Wednesday manager Brian Laws. "After we scored a great goal I thought we were in control of the game. We feel like we've had our pockets pinched."

Barnsley entertain Sheffield United at Oakwell tonight.