Derby boss Paul Warne felt a goalless draw against mid-table Wycombe represented a good point despite its implication in the race for promotion in League One.

The Rams missed the chance to put distance between themselves and Bolton in the hunt for automatic promotion to the Championship.

Derby could not make early pressure pay and were forced to withstand a barrage of chances from the Chairboys in a stalemate that left the Rams two points clear of Bolton having played one game more.

“It’s frustrating,” Warne said. “We’ve got three games left and the players want it so badly that it could impact their performance.

“First half we looked good as we created chances and we passed the ball really well, but we missed two absolute sitters and we need to take one of them.

“The longer the game goes, the harder it is and we were lucky to not lose so this might be a really good point for us.

“It’s that time of the season when teams are fighting for promotion and relegation so the pressure mounts.

“These people aren’t robots, but we need to be a bit more patient, breathe and play the way we’ve played.

“I thought we forced things and there were times I saw individuals rather than a team, not through selfishness, but by someone trying to grab the game to make that moment happen but we didn’t have it.”

Derby almost took the lead within two minutes as Wycombe defender Ryan Tafazolli’s header nearly went past Franco Ravizzoli in goal.

Four minutes later, Derby missed a gilt-edged chance of their own making as Corey Blackett-Taylor shot wide in front of an open net having been set up by Conor Washington.

Washington was then denied by a block from Jack Grimmer before the resulting set-piece from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing was tipped over the bar.

From there, Wycombe grew into the game but failed to properly test Joe Wildsmith in the Rams net as Beryly Lubala and Kieran Sadlier were two of several home players to send attempts wide.

Conor Hourihane and James Collins went close for Derby with seconds remaining.

Wycombe boss Matt Bloomfield said: “We were a bit shaky for the first 15 minutes or so, but we woke up and played very well for the next 75 minutes.

“We played against a team, and rightly so, who are playing for a place in the Championship.

“They’ve got loads of experience but I thought we were excellent as we got a clean sheet and on another night, we could have won it.

“I believe we could be higher than where we are and tonight we’ve gone toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the league.”

Derby’s push for automatic promotion to the Championship took a hit after they drew 0-0 away at mid-table Wycombe.

The Rams, who have three matches remaining, stay in second but sit just two points ahead of Bolton, who have a game in hand.

The visitors nearly took the lead in the opening two minutes when a Ryan Tafazolli header almost crept past his own goalkeeper, Franco Ravizzoli.

This started an onslaught of Derby attacks as Corey Blackett-Taylor missed an open goal from a Conor Washington cross inside six minutes.

The latter then had his attempt blocked by Jack Grimmer 10 minutes later before Nathaniel Mendez-Laing’s resulting corner nearly snuck in, but Ravizzoli tipped the set-piece over.

Wycombe had several chances but nothing that tested Joe Wildsmith in the Rams goal as Beryly Lubala and Kieran Sadlier fired their attempts wide of the mark.

The second half was on a knife-edge, as Joe Low and Gideon Kodua had Wycombe’s best attempts, with Conor Hourihane and James Collins going close for Derby in the final few moments but to no avail.

Portsmouth assistant Jon Harley is not focused on promotion despite a 3-1 victory at Wycombe moving the Sky Bet League One leaders closer to the Championship.

Pompey moved 11 points clear of third-placed Bolton following a stylish performance at Adams Park, in which top scorer Colby Bishop scored twice to make it 18 goals for the season.

Eight points from their remaining six games are required for Pompey to seal their return to the second tier after a 12-year absence, with a top-of-the-table clash with Derby to come on Tuesday night.

Harley, in charge on the touchline due to John Mousinho’s ban, said: “I don’t think that (promotion) is something we really want to talk about too much.

“As boring as it sounds, we’ve got a massive game against Derby coming up, so we just focus on that.

“I think if we focus on one game at a time, then the rest will take care of itself.

“Obviously, there is that going on in the back of our minds, we just want to get there as soon as we can and Derby becomes our next focus.

“The gaffer came down at half-time and had a few words and the key message, really, was let’s show some more energy.

“We knew it was going to be a fight in the second half and everyone stood up to it.

“The energy really rose and I think the game got wrapped up and in the last 20 minutes we felt really comfortable.”

Portsmouth led after three minutes when Bishop’s shot went in via a big deflection off Ryan Tafazolli, but Wycombe quickly levelled through Matt Butcher’s assured finish.

Bishop then doubled his tally after 28 minutes by steering in Abu Kamara’s low cross before Christian Saydee made sure of victory midway through the second half.

Wycombe boss Matt Bloomfield said: “I felt we weren’t at our best, but we’ve gone pretty close.

“We had a couple of chances when we were 2-1 down – we hit the bar and had another couple of moments and if one of those goes in at 2-2, I really fancy us at home to have a good last half an hour.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be and we had a bit of a sucker punch to go 3-1 down, which took the wind out of our sails a little bit.

“Portsmouth are at the top of the league for a reason.

“They’ve got some good players in forward areas who can hurt you at any moment and in Colby Bishop I think you’ll do well to find a better nine in the league.

“They’ve got some real good players and they’re a benchmark of where we want to get to.”