Paul Jewell admits his side's inconsistency is driving him up the wall.

Speaking to RamsWorld after a game at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium in which his players were below-par in the first half before taking control in the last half-hour of the 1-0 defeat, the Derby boss said: "We have seven games left and it's important to try to get past 15 points because we don't want the stigma of going down with the worst points total.

"The fans deserve something from this season and if we play like we did against Man United and how we played in the second half today we will do it, but if we play like we did in the first half, we won't. It's as simple as that.

"It's driving me up the wall and testing me right to the limit. I keep saying I can't wait for this season to finish because I know the players I want to bring in - players with strong mentality, good footballers who can deal with the pressure of expecting to win because I want us to expect to win next season."

Analysing Saturday's game, Jewell said: "I thought for the last half hour we were in control of the game and passed the ball well. The first 45 was a non-event for us - I don't know why. We had a good performance last week and wanted to take it into today's game but it didn't happen.

"In the second half after we made the changes things improved and I thought Hossam Ghaly ran the game. We created a really good opportunity and one or two good situations and they were hanging on at the end.

"The conditions were the same for both sides so I won't use that as an excuse but we just didn't get out of the traps. The second half was a marked improvement and we were a little bit unfortunate not to get something out of the game."

Of his side's bottom of the table position, he added: "We are inconsistent, we don't score goals and we concede too many. We are where we are because of our own inadequacies."

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