Derby County have staged an impressive comeback at the New York Stadium to rescue a 3-3 draw against Rotherham United, which takes them into the Championship automatic promotion zone.

Three points would have been enough to see the Rams climb to the top of the table, but in the end they had to settle for a share of the spoils having found themselves two goals behind in the second half.

The Millers have boasted a good home record of late, and it was they who started on the front foot by applying plenty of pressure from wide areas.

It was the visitors who managed to get away the game's first shot, however, as Tom Ince looked to test Adam Collin from range at the end of a counter-attacking move.

Chances proved to be few and far between for large parts of the opening quarter of the contest, despite both sides being full of energy and attacking drive, with Danny Ward and the returning Darren Bent both trying their best to open the scoring.

There was to be a pause in proceedings when Jack Hunt had to be replaced on a stretcher with 30 minutes played, ensuring a hefty amount of injury time would be added on, and following the resumption of play the match well and truly burst into life.

Paul Green initially put Rotherham ahead with a close-range finish after the ball was headed across goal into his path, before Ince levelled things up with a fine strike from distance almost instantly.

Relegation-threatened United came out by far the stronger side following the restart, and within nine minutes they found themselves with a two-goal cushion.

First, Richard Smallwood's free kick was well placed into the far corner beyond the reach of Grant, before Omar Mascarell's weak back header allowed Matt Derbyshire to burst through on goal to make it 3-1 to the hosts.

Manchester United academy product Jesse Lingard failed to make a true connection with his shot as the Rams attempted to mount a comeback, but it could quite easily have been a fourth for Rotherham when Derbyshire's thunderbolt was pushed over the bar by Grant.

Momentum began to swing back Derby's way when Ince bagged his second of the night from 12 yards out, latching on to Craig Forsyth's cross to give Steve McClaren's men real hope with 26 minutes still to play.

County, who have now won just one of their last nine meetings at Rotherham, enjoyed more of the possession in the final quarter of the match, although it looked as though they were going to be frustrated by their opponents.

That was until Bent ghosted in at the near post late on to touch home Lingard's cross with what could be a vital goal in the grand scheme of things.

There was still time for either side to win it, and Derbyshire came close to doing so with his header late on, but in the end both sides had to make do with a point.