Sunderland missed a golden chance to register their first away win of the season when they were held to a 0-0 draw by Derby County in their Premiership clash on Saturday.

Sunderland dominated the chances throughout the match and had a goal disallowed for offside as Derby hung on to claim a point from the tie. Intent on achieving the 16 point mark, Derby manager Paul Jewell made four changes to his side but with no effect as Derby were second best for most of the game.

Sunderland almost took the lead in the 4th minute when Daryl Murphy smashed a shot into the post. Murphy and Michael Chopra had a number of chances to put their side in the lead but were unable to hit the target as Derby struggled to deal with the strikers' aerial prowess.

Sunderland looked to have taken the lead in the 38th minute when Chopra latched on to Andy Reid's low cross before slotting the ball past Roy Carroll. However the effort was disallowed for offside though replays showed that the striker was on side.

Derby almost scored an own goal minutes later when Reid flicked on Danny Higginbotham's cross and Alan Stubbs back heeled the ball just wide of the target. Sunderland pushed forward in the second half, creating a number of chance but were unable to hit the back of the target as the Derby defense hung on to claim their first point in three matches.