OXFORD United were held to a goalless draw away against managerless Derby County.
The encounter was light on clear opportunities, as both sides settled for a stalemate at Pride Park.
It ensured another picked up by United, this time against a Rams side which sacked head coach Paul Warne on Friday afternoon following a run of seven consecutive Sky Bet Championship defeats and remained under the leadership of interim boss Matt Hamshaw as the club waits to finalise a deal for Blackburn Rovers boss John Eustace.
Gary Rowett made three changes to the side which lost 1-0 at Burnley, a result which ended the head coach’s nine-game unbeaten start in the league.
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Peter Kioso, Siriki Dembele and Mark Harris came in for Sam Long, Tyler Goodrham and Tom Bradshaw, with the latter dropping out of the squad completely due to injury.
The striker’s place in the squad was taken by Stan Mills, involved for the first time since rejoining the club on a permanent basis from Everton during the January transfer window.
The opening exchanges of the first half were light on action, with just a Kenzo Goudmijn effort after 14 minutes causing any problems.
The Rams crossed from the right-hand side to Lars-Jorgen Salvesen, who teed up Goudmijn, with the midfielder swivelling and shooting wide from just inside the penalty box.
With 25 minutes on the clock, Dembele quickly turned and struck a left-footed effort from 25 yards, with the shot forcing a smart fingertip save from Jacob Widell Zetterstrom in the Rams goal.
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The sight of goal led to handful of others at both ends of the pitch, as David Ozoh driving forward from deep and seeing a shot from the edge of the penalty well blocked by Ciaron Brown.
United failed to clear their lines effectively from the resulting corner, allowing Nat Phillips to stab a left-footed shot over the crossbar.
Just before the break, Goudmijn drifted inside from the left and saw a strike blocked, with the loose ball falling kindly for Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, who saw a low 20-yard effort collected with relative ease by Jamie Cumming.
The second period followed a similar pattern to the first half, and it took until the hour mark for either goalkeeper to be tested.
A right-hand side cross to the back post found Salvesen, who directed an acrobatic effort safely into the gloves of Cumming.
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Minutes later, Cumming was on hand to save a Salvesen header from a Rams corner as the noise levels increased at Pride Park.
Rams substitute Marcus Harness then headed over prior to Rowett making his first alterations of the night.
The changes arrived after 65 minutes, as Rodrigues and Mills replaced Alex Matos and Przemyslaw Placheta respectively.
For Mills, it was a first appearance since suffering a serious knee injury in January 2024 while on loan with the U’s.
Rowett made a third switch with 10 minutes to go, bringing on Goodrham for Dembele down the U’s left.
The atmosphere was tense and the action scrappy as the final 10 minutes ticked by, with Leigh slamming an effort across goal and wide, and Brown sending an effort always rising from distance high over the crossbar.
Three minutes of stoppage time were signalled, but despite a late opportunity via a free kick swung in by Goodrham, the deadlock remained unbroken.
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Derby County (3-4-2-1): Widell Zetterstrom; Phillips (Nyambe 76), Clarke, Langas; Jackson (Barkhuizen 89), Adams, Ozoh (Armstrong 76), Elder; Mendez-Laing (Harness 59), Goudmijn (Yates 59); Salvesen.
Unused subs: Vickers, Forsyth, Osborn, Thompson.
Booked: Harness.
Oxford United (4-2-3-1): Cumming; Kioso, Helik, Brown, Leigh; Vaulks, Brannagan; Placheta (Mills 65), Matos (Rodrigues 65), Dembele (Goodrham 80); Harris (Phillips 89).
Unused subs: Ingram, Long, ter Avest, El Mizouni, Romeny.
Booked: None.
Referee: Stephen Martin (Staffordshire)
Attendance: 25,999 (TBC away)
