"I thought I did all right; I have been out of the team for a couple of games but it took about 10 minutes to get into my stride," he says, looking back on his performance at Pride Park.
"It is all about playing games to keep yourself ticking over, but nowadays football is more of a squad game than a team thing and it is one of those things that when you are out of the team you have to wait to prove yourself when you get back in.
"It is hard because no player likes to be left out of the team, and I am no different, but we have a big squad now and if you are not playing you have to get behind the lads - because when you are playing you want them to get behind you and wish you all the best."
Hayden is philosophical about picking up the one point from the last two games and adds:
"The boys are not going to get carried away; we know that this league is a difficult one and everyone beats everyone.
"It is about being consistent and building on your results and the draw at Derby followed by a win against Wolves wouldn't be too bad.
"We have only played 11 games and you have to be positive - there are 30-odd games to play and there is a long, long way to go."
Hayden, who played right back on Wednesday after Malky Mackay dropped out with a calf injury, feels the performance was good at Derby and adds:
"I think we had a few chances with a couple cleared off the line; we just need a little bit of luck at the moment - we didn't have much against Forest and last night we needed some of that up front.
"That is football, and it is about us bouncing back to get the results; a lot of teams have been drawing lately, no one is running away with it, and we are still there or thereabouts."