Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was full of praise for Derby County after his side got the better of them in the Capital One Cup quarter-final on Tuesday night.
The Premier League leaders defeated Steve McClaren's Rams 3-1 at iPro Stadium to book their place in the semi-finals but the scoreline did not reflect the performance of the second division side according to Mourinho.
"They are a Championship side but not a typical Championship side - they have more quality than that," Mourinho told Sky Sports.
"They play good football, they have fantastic support in the stadium and we knew that was going to be difficult, but I think we played in a very professional way.
"We controlled the game for most of the time, but I have to be fair to them and say that they fought until the end - and especially a few minutes after they scored they put us in trouble."
Eden Hazard and Filipe Luis had Chelsea two goals ahead early in the second half before Craig Bryson made a game of it in the 71st minute.
However, Jake Buxton's controversial red card cost Derby before Andre Schurrle wrapped it up eight minutes from time.
