A pair of goals after the break after have given Derby County a 2-0 win over Cardiff City in the Championship.

The Rams asked all of the questions in the opening stages, with Bluebirds goalkeeper David Marshall pulling off early saves to deny Tom Ince and Andreas Weimann.

Cardiff's best chance of the first half came in the 25th minute when Kenwyne Jones lined up Craig Noone in front of goal, but Derby goalkeeper Scott Carson sprung into action to deny the midfielder.

Paul Clement's side failed to make their dominance count in the first half, but that changed 10 minutes into the second when George Thorne fired Chris Martin's pass into the bottom corner.

It was almost 2-0 moments later when Jacob Butterfield's through-ball sent Martin clean through on goal, but Marshall came rushing off his line to deny the striker.

Derby killed the game off in the 76th minute through Weimann, who guided the ball in from a tight angle after Thorne's initial strike was parried by the Cardiff goalkeeper.

The former Aston Villa man's strike proved to be the last effort from either side on target as the Rams held on to consolidate their place in the playoff positions.