Huddersfield Town manager Danny Cowley lavishes praise on Harry Toffolo

Nice guys do not always finish last, though success in the cut-throat world of football often comes hand-in-hand with ruthlessness and a will to win at all costs.

But, the moment that ultimately led to Huddersfield Town ending Derby County’s five-match winning streak at Pride Park on Saturday saw a “really good kid” rewarded for his “conscientious” approach to the game, much to the delight of glowing Terriers manager Danny Cowley.

January capture Harry Toffolo is still finding his feet at Championship level, however the former Lincoln City left-back popped up with an individual effort that any forward in the division would have been proud of to earn his side a richly-deserved point in their battle to avoid consecutive relegations.

A player whom Cowley has helped nurture since signing him for the Imps in 2018, the Town chief waxed lyrical about Toffolo in his post-match press conference.

“He’s a really good kid,” said Cowley of the 24-year-old, who got forward from defence on 81 minutes to cancel out Tom Lawrence’s stunning opener for the hosts.

“He’s a down-to-earth, honest, hard-working boy with three kids and a lovely family. It’s nice when good things happen to good people.

“It’s nice from a manager’s point of view when you see them when they’re really hard-working and diligent and conscientious and they’re getting the rewards that that work deserves.

“You kind of feel like you’re talking about your own child with players. You never want to speak too highly of them, but I’m pleased for him.

“He’s come to this level and it’s a huge jump. As everyone knows, this time last year he’d have been playing in League Two and he’s done really well. He’s improving all the time.”

Toffolo’s appeal is three-fold. In addition to being “one of the best human beings we have ever worked with”, he is a full-back who carries an attacking threat, but first and foremost, he is a defender with an appetite for defending.

“He can score goals from left-back,” added Cowley.

“He’s rampaging. He will get on the overlap and probably create and assist more goals than he scores, but we like the fact that he’s still about defending first.

“Sometimes with the modern-day full-backs, it’s about attacking. For me, I like my defenders to wake up thinking about stopping the ball going in the goal, and the icing and the cherry on the cake is the offensive stuff that they bring.”

Toffolo’s strike against the Rams was made to look all the more impressive by the fact that Town’s forwards failed to deliver in front of goal.

Fraizer Campbell could not take one decent and one very good chance to break the deadlock during the opening 45, directing a free header wide of the mark from Juninho Bacuna’s corner on the second occasion.

Campbell then thudded an effort against a post before Derby, who had been restricted to shots from outside the area before the break, took a 61st-minute lead when Wayne Rooney found Graeme Shinnie with a short-corner from the right and the latter teed up Lawrence to rifle home a stunning finish.

Campbell then saw a strong shout for a penalty turned down, but Town got back on terms after Toffolo collected the ball just outside the County area, darted past Curtis Davies and then fired past goalkeeper Kelle Roos at his near post.

Substitute Chris Willock should have won the game moments later, but failed to beat Roos one-on-one and the spoils were shared.

Derby County: Roos, Wisdom (Bogle 79), Davies, Clarke, Forsyth, Holmes (Shinnie 29), Rooney, Bird, Lawrence, Martin (Marriott 62), Waghorn. Unused substitutes: Jozefzoon, Lowe, Knight, Ravas.

Huddersfield Town: Lossl, Simpson (Willock 81), Stearman, Schindler, Toffolo, Hogg, King (Smith-Rowe 75), Bacuna, Kachunga, O’Brien, Campbell (Mounie 75). Unused substitutes: Chalobah, Coleman, Pyke, Stankovic.

Referee: C Pawson (S Yorks).