Derby County’s 2017/18 Sky Bet Championship fixture at newly relegated Sunderland had everything you should expect from an opening day clash.
Sure, it was tight. It was edgy. There were some strong spells. And there were some periods that the Rams’ resilience was really put to the test.
But Gary Rowett’s side more than played their part as they came away with a hard fought 1-1 draw from their Friday night meeting under floodlights at the Stadium of Light.
Bradley Johnson opened the scoring with a calm finish early doors, but Lewis Grabban’s penalty conversion ensured both sides shared the spoils in the north east.
Whilst admitting the outcome was a fair one, Derby’s goalscorer feels the draw represents a good start to the 2017/18 season.
“You don’t want to get off to a losing start,” Johnson told RamsTV.
“There’s a bit of disappointment for sure. We felt we could have won the game, but as the manager reiterated in the dressing room afterwards, this was a Premier League club last year.
“This (the Stadium of Light) is going to be a hard place to come to this year, especially with the way they play.
“They are very direct and it took us a while to get used to that. I thought we settled down well in the second half and played some good stuff.
“Both teams had chances and a draw, in the end, is probably a fair result. It’s a long season that we have got ahead of us and there are a lot of positives we can take away from this.”
After soaking up heavy spells of pressure over the first half, Derby were far more on the front foot over the second half and enjoyed their strongest spell from the hour-mark onwards.
Johnson felt Rowett’s substitutes more than played their part in swinging the momentum back into the Rams’ favour and reserved particular praise for Matej Vydra.
He added: “The passing was much better in the second half.
“Naturally, the first game is always a bit edgy and everyone is trying to impress. Sunderland made it hard for us, but I thought we showed a lot more composure in the second 45 minutes.
“The substitutes made an impact too. Vyds (Matej Vydra) got into some great positions in behind and created a few chances for us.”
With the first game out of the way, Derby have got something to build on heading into next week when they get their Carabao Cup campaign up and running at Grimsby Town, before returning to Pride Park Stadium for the first competitive home match of the season.
“We all want to get this first game out of the way,” Johnson said.
“Everyone wants to see how all the teams do on that first game of the season, but I’m not sure you can read too much into it.
“Our aim is to make sure that, come Christmas, we are there or thereabouts.
“We have been in this league along time now, we know what it’s about and we are confident that we can achieve good things this year. We have got off to a good start with this point.”