Substitute Jerry Yates converted a stoppage-time penalty to earn Derby a dramatic 1-1 draw at Norwich and end a run of seven successive Championship defeats in the process.

Norwich looked to be heading for a third straight win, and a place in the play-off zone, when Josh Sargent scored his fourth goal in three games to put them in front midway through the second period.

But the Rams, who had parted company with manager Paul Warne the previous day, kept battling away and got their reward when Marcus Harness was brought down in the area and Yates kept his cool to earn his side a precious point under caretaker boss Matt Hamshaw.

Neither goalkeeper had a difficult save to make in a drab first half, which saw struggling Derby more than hold their own against a misfiring home side.

The only moments of genuine excitement came early on when both sides had goals ruled out by tight offside decisions in the space of little over a minute.

Derby thought they had taken the lead when Lars-Jorgen Salvesen converted Ben Osborn’s cross from close range but their joy was snuffed out when the flag went up.

It was a similar story in the very next attack as Lewis Dobbin latched on to a ball over the top before producing a tidy finish.

Norwich needed to raise their game after the break and, as they upped the tempo, Sargent was inches away from getting a decisive touch when Callum Doyle headed the ball back into the danger area.

Sargent then tested goalkeeper Jacob Zetterstrom with a fierce first-time drive which the Swede did well to parry away.

A goal was coming and it finally arrived in the 68th minute as a superb interchange of passes broke Derby’s resistance.

The move saw Lucien Mahovo pick out Sargent and he played a fine one-two with Emiliano Marcondes before converting in emphatic fashion.

Norwich looked on course for a hard-fought win until the Rams equalised out of the blue from the penalty spot.

Jack Stacey was penalised for catching Harness in the head as he attempted to hook the ball clear and Yates sent Angus Gunn the wrong way from the spot to earn the visitors a long overdue point.