Saturday's pre-season friendly against Rotherham United might not have been one for the football purists but Rams boss Paul Jewell is happy with the way his new-look squad is progressing.

Spectators at the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield - the Millers' new home - were struggling for anything to get excited about as both sides struggled with the conditions during the 0-0 draw.

A howling wind and bobbly pitch weren't likely to produce much good football but from Derby's perspective it was another game under the belt as preparations continue for 2008/09.

Jewell said: "You can't judge too much on today and I didn't realise how bad the pitch was until I stood on it and had a look.

"It was just one of those games in the end that you want to get out of the way.

"The game had an end-of-season feel about it which was unfortunate as we wanted to come here and get something from it.

"The 90-minute run-out was good for the players to get under their belt but the quality wasn't there."

Derby were the first visitors to the Don Valley Stadium since Rotherham moved there over the summer after leaving their former base at Millmoor.

Unfortunately, the pitch is also shared by the Sheffield Eagles rugby league team and it showed the after-effects of recent matches and training sessions.

"That's not Rotherham's fault at all - Mark Robins is someone I know well, he is a great lad," Jewell said.

"We agreed to the game last season thinking it would be at Millmoor but we have been here at the Don Valley Stadium, and the rugby team trained on the pitch last night.

"I don't want to make too many excuses but you could see by the quality of the game that the pitch and conditions were a shocker.

"Certainly, from my team's point of view, we didn't get an awful lot out of it other than the run-out.

"But despite today, I am happy with the progress we have made since we came back from Holland."

The Rams fielded a somewhat truncated squad due to the usual little niggles that hit players during pre-season.

Goalkeepers Stephen Bywater and Roy Carroll missed out, meaning an appearance on the bench for 18-year-old Academy product Ross Atkins.

Kris Commons, Alan Stubbs, Tyrone Mears and Steve Davies all sat the game out with their own knocks while Dean Leacock was withdrawn in the second half.

"It wasn't our strongest team today as we didn't want to risk any injuries but we go on to Oldham on Wednesday now and hopefully the closer we get to Augsut 9 the more settled our team will be," Jewell added.

Of the injuries to Stubbs and Commons, he said: "Stubbsy had a knee operation at the end of the season and he has picked up a slight tear in his thigh since coming back, so he is going to have to do another week's training with the conditioning coach.

"Kris has done a lot of running but you have to be careful with a hamstring as you don't want to make it go again.

"It is a difficult one to try and manage as you want them playing matches but you don't want to push them too much.

"But I don't think they are too far away from playing in a game."