Stoke City: Jewell dedicates victory to 'humiliated' Rams fans

DERBY boss Paul Jewell dedicated his side's victory to the club's fans.

Reflecting on the Rams' disastrous 2007/08 Premier League campaign, he said: "Our fans were humiliated last season by what happened. They at least have something to feel good about after this."

Jewell also praised Nathan Ellington for keeping his cool to roll home the decisive penalty. He added: "People may have expected Nathan to blast a penalty in the last minute of a cup tie. But that is the way he takes penalties.

"One of these days he is going to miss one like that and I will give him a rollicking, but that is how he does it. He waits for the keeper to move and rolls it in.

"He has done it that way ever since I have known him, right from when he was with me at Wigan.

"Credit to him, he showed great confidence and strength of character.

"I was confident he would score, that he would not be scared to take it, but it was great to see it go in."

The result means Derby have reached a semi-final of a major cup competition for the first time since 1968, also in the league cup.

Jewell added: "We couldn't have left it much later, it was virtually the last kick of the game.

"It was a great victory for us. Stoke is a tough place to go to, as Arsenal, Tottenham and Aston Villa have found out.

"Stoke showed us respect by playing most of the big-hitters, and it was then an examination of character after our last three away games, all defeats.

"You can hardly find a tougher place to come and we showed character, strength and mental courage.

"Stoke do not get enough credit, they have good footballers. People only talk about the long throws and set plays. They are very good at them, but they also have some good footballers."