Steve Davies' late equaliser rescued a 1-1 draw for Derby in their Coca-Cola Championship clash with Southampton.

The second-half substitute latched onto Martin Albrechtsen's pass to finish from inside the penalty after 83 minutes and crush Southampton's hopes of a vital win.

Chris Perry had put Saints ahead when he pounced on to Jason Euell's knock-down to smash home from six yards six minutes on the hour.

Derby may well feel they were worthy of their point as they missed several chances to go ahead, with Rob Hulse guilty of wasting their best opportunities, and the Rams slip down to 17th, while Southampton stay in the bottom three, two points off safety.

Both sides were desperate for a win and the game started in lively fashion with a lot of attacking intent inside the opening 15 minutes.

The hosts were soon on the back foot and had Simon Gillett to thank when he made a last-ditch tackle to deny Hulse a goalscoring opportunity after Jan Paul Saeijs had been dispossessed.

Southampton responded with a string of corners and they went close when a loose ball fell to Morgan Schneiderlin, but his dipping volley went just over the bar.

As the game became congested in the middle of the park, Southampton struggled to break a compact Derby side down, and the visitors looked dangerous on the break.

Lone striker Hulse twice went close with headers, the first looping over and the second going just wide of Kevin Davis' upright.

Southampton came more into the game and began to force a few chances as the half drew to a close with Andrew Surman having an effort blocked and Marek Saganowski forcing Stephen Bywater into a good save.

Derby began brightly after the break and created several chances in the first few minutes of the second period with Hulse having two bites of the cherry as, when his first shot was parried by Davis, he snatched at the rebound and hit the ball into the side netting.

Hulse was made to pay for his double miss six minutes later when Southampton took the lead with their first attack of the half.

The Saints forced a corner on the right and when Jason Euell nodded down Gillett's corner, defender Chris Perry was on hand to crash the ball home off the underside of the bar from close range after 59 minutes.

The Saints were buoyed by their goal and should have doubled their lead just four minutes later when David McGoldrick broke clear down the right, he crossed for Surman, but he inexplicably shot wide from an unmarked position in the box.

It looked like Perry's strike would be the decisive moment in the game as Derby struggled to force Southampton back.

However, the visitors kept plugging away and were rewarded when substitute Davies latched onto Albrechtsen's pass and produced a neat finish to beat the helpless Davis in the Saints goal.

The hosts went hell for leather to find a winning goal in the remaining seven minutes and they had three shots in the space of 30 seconds. Adam Lallana crashed into the post from close range, Gillett saw the rebound blocked by Lewin Nyatanga and then Rudi Skacel had his effort from the loose ball blocked by Andy Todd as Derby hung on.

Teams

Southampton Davis, James, Saeijs, Perry, Skacel,Schneiderlin (Lallana 46), Gillett, McGoldrick,Surman (Wotton 69), Saganowski (Paterson 90), Euell.

Subs Not Used: Bialkowski, Liptak.

Goals: Perry 59.

Derby Bywater, Connolly, Albrechtsen, Nyatanga, Todd,Sterjovski (Ellington 63), Savage, Eustace (Kazmierczak 86),Teale, Hulse (Davies 77), Barazite.

Subs Not Used: Carroll, Villa.

Goals: Davies 83.

Att: 17,567

Ref: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire).