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Jamie Hanson, on his Football League debut, took the corner that John Ruddy let slip past him for an equaliser

An own goal from Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy gifted their promotion rivals Derby a point at Carrow Road.

Cameron Jerome met a fierce low Martin Olsson cross to tap in the open goal from close range, while Steve McClaren's Rams failed to get an effort on goal before the break.

Steven Whittaker was foiled by Derby keeper Lee Grant before Ruddy spilled a Jamie Hanson corner into his own net.

Grant ensured a vital point, denying Sebastien Bassong and Gary Hooper.

The draw sees Derby fall off the pace at the top of the Championship, slipping from second to fourth in the table, with Bournemouth, Middlesbrough and Watford all winning on Saturday.

Norwich remain fifth and just one point adrift of Derby, but are now three points off the summit, with Bournemouth beating Blackpool 4-0 to reclaim the lead on goal difference after Middlesbrough temporarily went top in beating Ipswich Town.

Tribute to a Canary legend Spectators at Carrow Road paid their respects to former Norwich City player and Canary Hall of Fame member Roy McCrohan, who died at the age of 84 last week, with a minutes applause before kick-off.McCrohan is sixth in the club's top all-time appearances list, having played 426 first-team games over an 11-years period between 1951 and 1962.

Alex Neil's Canaries started brightly with Alex Tettey, Graham Dorrans and Wes Hoolahan particularly lively, but it was not until the 17th minute that Jonny Howson called Rams keeper Grant into action.

While the visitors were starved of early chances, Derby's Will Hughes pounced on a partially-cleared corner to fire menacingly over the bar.

Jerome poked an effort just wide before eventually opening the scoring for Norwich, side-footing unchallenged into an empty net after Olsson whipped a low ball across the face of goal following good lead up work from from Bradley Johnson and Hoolahan.

Whittaker almost forced home a second for the hosts after the break, only for Grant to crucially save.

The near-miss seemed to rouse the visitors, with Tom Ince testing Ruddy from distance before the former England keeper inexplicably gifted Derby the equaliser, letting Hanson's corner drop over the line.

For Hanson, the goal marked his Football League debut, starting for Derby County after Spaniard Omar Mascarell suffered a foot injury in training on Friday.

It took two fine saves from Grant, keeping Bassong's header out before diving to his left to deny Hooper, for Derby to stay ahead of Norwich in the Championship table.

Still, Jerome almost secured maximum points for Norwich, but his powerful header from a Whittaker cross soared over the bar.

Norwich manager Alex Neil: "Obviously when you make a mistake as a goalkeeper it is highlighted and obviously John (Ruddy) is disappointed with the result, as we all are. But he has been fantastic since I've come in and it was what it was.

"The main thing to say is that we would have won the game if we had converted more of the chances we created.

"We had plenty of opportunities and I can't remember Derby having one."

Derby manager Steve McClaren: "It's always going to be tough coming to a place like this, especially when you are without three controlling midfielders and your two main strikers.

"But I thought we showed real character today to come away with a point - it's a characteristic that should serve us well in the last 10 games.

"We have taken a lot of points this season by playing fantastic football and that wasn't the case today.

"But the lads dug in to make sure we came away with something and to be fair I think it was about time we had a little bit of luck."