STEVE McClaren paid tribute to his Derby County side after they "climbed a mountain" against Cardiff City.
The Rams hit back from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw at the iPro Stadium on Saturday.
Derby dominated a goalless first half but went two down soon after the break as Aron Gunnarsson and Peter Whittingham struck in quick succession.
However, substitute Jordon Ibe netted his first goal for the Rams and Craig Bryson equalised in the 84th minute.
After a tough week, McClaren could not fault the performance of his players.
"You could probably have said at half-time there was only going to be one winner, so to be two down five minutes into the second half, there was disbelief, I think on their bench as well," said the Rams head coach.
"But then there was terrific character shown by the players to come back and we could and should have won it at the end.
"Again, the players have shown great character and climbed a mountain.
"We looked at this week and thought it would be one of the toughest we would have in the Championship.
"There was the emotional roller-coaster at Nottingham (Forest) on Sunday and then how the players recovered and performed at Blackburn like they did was tremendous because I expected a backlash.
"I expected one today but we were excellent in the first half and we keep putting challenges there and the team keep coming up and dealing with them.
"The only disappointment is the result but we couldn't fault the performance."
