Alan Blayney did not have the happiest of starts to his second loan spell with Albion.

He had to wait for his chance while Wayne Henderson did his stuff before returning to Aston Villa.

Once his opportunity arrived, Blayney twice conceded three goals in consecutive defeats against Stoke and Crystal Palace.

Now that the rustiness has gone, the Northern Ireland shot-stopper has rediscovered the influential form he showed in his first stint on loan from Southampton towards the end of last season, when he helped the Seagulls to Championship survival.

Blayney made two important saves in last Tuesday's 1-1 deadlock at Cardiff. He made two more against Derby on Saturday to cement Albion's position as the draw specialists of the division in company with his parent club, who also secured their 12th stalemate of the campaign at Wolves.

Attention to detail is crucial to the cause in the congested battle to stay up and goalkeeping coach John Keeley helped Blayney make his penalty save from Inigo Idiakez in the 61st minute.

Just before the pre-match warm-up, Keeley told Blayney he had seen three previous spot-kicks taken by Idiakez. Two were struck down the middle and one to the right.

Blayney took Keeley's advice on board after Gary Hart brought down Marc Edworthy inside the box.

Sure enough, Idiakez opted for the middle route, Blayney dived to his right and kept the ball out with his feet.

Blayney made an arguably more significant stop deep into stoppage time, although he admitted he did not know much about it.

Adam El-Abd's sound shift at centre half in place of the injured Paul McShane was almost marred when he skewed a low cross from Derby skipper Seth Johnson towards his own net.

It hit Blayney on the chest and rebounded for a corner to guarantee Albion's first clean sheet at Withdean since their only home win against Plymouth at the end of August.

The damage to morale would have been incalculable if that had gone in, bearing in mind the last-gasp defeat by Crystal Palace in the previous home match.

Manager Mark McGhee said: "I think the penalty save will be great for Alan and the save at the end, which would have been a killer.

"The fact that he had lost goals has probably been a bit hard on him, so it was important he stopped the rot."

Even more important when other results filtered through. Of the other teams in the bottom eight, Coventry and Hull were both held after leading 2-0 while Crewe, Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth and Millwall all lost, the latter trio at home.

Some fans might not appreciate such a modest target but what matters until the January transfer window, when McGhee will attempt to replenish the squad within his limited resources, is that Albion stay in touch with the relegation-threatened pack. Every single point is precious.

The performance, as McGhee acknowledged, did not deserve all three points, although Jake Robinson nearly won the match after replacing a tired Leon Knight.

The youngster's 35-yard screamer against the crossbar seven minutes from time was reminiscent of an effort by Knight from slightly closer range at Cardiff, which suffered the same fate.

A third gruelling game in the space of six days was one too many for the flair trio of Knight, Seb Carole and Alex Frutos.

"All three matches required an enormous effort and we showed signs of that, particularly Leon and our two French wingers," said McGhee.

"Both looked a little bit jaded and short of the energy they showed in the other games. We play at the edge all the time, we are not able to coast or relax in any game.

"We are always full out and you are going to eventually feel the effects of that."

Derby, a shadow of the side that reached the play-offs last season, were similarly impotent. Worthing-born Marcus Tudgay, two-goal hero of County's contrastingly entertaining win at Withdean last season, was well shackled by Hart after McGhee switched him to leftback in a first-half swap with Paul Reid.

Derby boss Phil Brown's safety-first policy, which yielded a comeback win at Stoke last week, contributed to a dour encounter.

Idiakez operated just in front of the centre halves with Blayney's Southampton colleague Dexter Blackstock, the game's most dangerous attacker in the opening 45 minutes, alone up front.

The spot-kick blunder by Idiakez was surprising, considering dead ball situations are the Spanish playmaker's speciality. His inswinging corner in the first half curled over Blayney and had to be headed off the line at the far post by Reid. He also went close with a free-kick from 25 yards shortly before his penalty miss.

Overall there was little to excite a disappointingly low crowd observing an impeccable minute's silence before kick-off in memory of George Best.

He would have appreciated the performance of Blayney, another son of Belfast, if not the quality of the match.

  • Albion (4-4-2): Blayney 8; Hart 6, El-Abd 8, Butters 6, Reid 6; Carole 6, Oatway 7, Hammond 7, Frutos 6; McPhee 7, Knight 6. Subs: Robinson for Knight (withdrawn 66), Kazim-Richards for Frutos (withdrawn 66), Nicolas for Oatway (injured 90), Mayo, Chaigneau.
  • Derby (4-1-4-1): Camp; Edworthy, Davies, Nyatanga, Jackson; Idiakez; Tudgay, S. Johnson, Thirlwell, Smith; Blackstock. Subs: Bisgaard for Tudgay (withdrawn 70), Graham for Blackstock (withdrawn 76), Bolder for Thirlwell (withdrawn 81), M. Johnson, Poole.
  • Matchfacts
  • - Shots on goal: Albion 1, Derby 4.

- Shots off goal: Albion 5, Derby 5.

- Corners: Albion 4, Derby 5.

- Offside: Albion 1, Derby 2.

- Free-kicks: Albion 14, Derby 12.

  • Albion bookings: None.
  • Derby bookings: Blackstock (19) unsporting behaviour, Tudgay (69) unsporting behaviour, Thirwell (78) foul.
  • Albion scorers: none.
  • Derby scorers: none.