Derby County were held to a goalless draw against Barnsley at Oakwell in their re-arranged fixture.

After heavy rain called off the teams meeting last month, Barnsley headed into the Wednesday evening meeting on a seven-game winning run to move into the top-six.

Derby were looking to bounce back from two consecutive defeats and looked the most likely to come away with all three points after coming close on a few occasions in the second half.

Lee Gregory went one-on-one with the Tykes’ stopper just minutes before Graeme Shinnie came even closer by striking the inside of the post, but Derby were unable to hit the back of the net and settled for a point.

The opening stages of the contest showed the Rams were in for a scrap against the Tykes who wouldn’t be allowing Wayne Rooney’s side to play.

However, Derby were happy to play Barnsley at their own game and showed some good flashes of direct play almost creating an opening inside the opening 15 minutes.

Kelle Roos bowled the ball out to Andre Wisdom who played a longball over the top with several attacking players running in behind. Gregory got a touch, but it was heavy and rolled through for Brad Collins to collect.

Midway through the half, Barnsley started to apply the pressure in the opposite box with Daryl Dike being the main threat. Callum Brittain’s cross from the right found the frontman who got caught on the wrong side of George Edmundson and headed wide.

He got his head on the end of another cross from the other side moments later, this time on target, but it was a comfortable save for Roos.

The Rams had a free-kick from a dangerous position in stoppage time ahead of half-time after Colin Kazim-Richards was taken down. Jason Knight rolled the ball for Kazim-Richards who drilled a ball and Tykes’ captain Alex Mowatt blocked it well.

Just moments into the second-half, Roos was called into make a vital save after Barnsley came out racing from the blocks. Conor Chaplin received Mowatt’s ball in from the left and un-marked inside the six-yard box, he took aim, but the Rams’ keeper denied him with quick feet.

Derby’s first sight of goal came ten minutes into the second-half. Gregory brought down a long ball and flicked it forward for Shinnie to run onto. He struck low from the edge of the box, but Collins held on to it.

That marked the start of a period of the Rams being on the front foot and a minute later Kamil Jozwiak latched on to Matt Clarke’s ball into the box and went to ground, however appeals for a penalty were waved off.

Their best chance so far came with just under 20 minutes left to play. Kazim-Richards flew down the flank and slid in a ball for Gregory. The forward was closed down well by Collins who managed to equal the effort.

Derby came even closer in the 80th minute with a lovely strike from Shinnie. After being set by Craig Forsyth with his back to goal, he swivelled and rifled a right-footed shot that clipped the inside of the post and rebounded across goal and cleared.

Barnsley held on and the Rams left Yorkshire with a point to prepare to face Millwall at Pride Park Stadium on Saturday.

Barnsley: Collins, Styles (Williams, 57), Andersen, Brittain, Woodrow (Adeboyejo, 57), Dike, Chaplin (Morris, 57), Sibbick, Palmer (Kane, 82), Mowatt (C), Helik.

Substitutes: Walton, Oduor, Sollbauer, Frieser, Moon.

Derby County: Roos, Wisdom (C), Forsyth, Shinnie, Edmundson, Jozwiak (Sibley, 85), Kazim-Richards, Mengi, Clarke, Gregory (Waghorn, 85), Knight.

Substitutes: Idem, Bird, Roberts, Buchanan, Wilson, McDonald, Watson.