Derby County

Amelia Warren
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

It's officially crunch time in the Championship, with the race for promotion and the play-offs both well and truly on.

Following defeat at Southampton last Saturday, the Rams now have a very slim chance of finishing in the top six.

If one thing epitomises Derby just falling short this season, it will be the significant injuries to two key players, Patrick Agyemang (pictured) and Bobby Clark, during the run-in.

Agyemang and Clark have racked up over 5,600 combined Championship minutes this campaign, with both of them individually averaging more than 60 minutes per game.

Due to injuries and absences impacting the entire squad throughout the season, the pair have perhaps been heavily relied upon more than John Eustace would have wanted them to be.

With the effects of a gruelling season impacting two of the standout performers, it is crucial Derby focus on building quality strength in depth for next season, particularly if they want to challenge for promotion.

It is no coincidence that Coventry City sit top of the table when they were able to bring on Ephron Mason-Clark, Haji Wright and Jack Rudoni in a triple substitution against the Rams just three games ago.

Similarly, last weekend, we saw high-flying Southampton introduce Shea Charles, Samuel Edozie, Kuryu Matsuki and Cyle Larin from the bench.

Out of the seven players mentioned above, you would expect at least five of them to be good enough to make Derby's current starting line-up, let alone the bench.

Having a deeper squad will give Derby that extra firepower to perhaps make the difference during a tight game.

But more importantly, it will also help to take the strain off those players who become undroppable during an injury crisis, allowing them to stay fit for the entirety of the season, rather than running out of steam towards the business end.

Had Derby had better options off the bench this season, rotation would have been easier for Eustace.

Therefore, demand would have decreased on the players, allowing them more time to rest and recover, and perhaps the injuries Agyemang and Clark sustained at the end of this season would have been avoided.

Then you take a look at some of the games Derby couldn't quite see out this season, such as Watford at home, Southampton away, Coventry away and Middlesbrough away.

You wonder whether, if the Rams had reinforcements to call upon, they may have been able to pick up a few more crucial points in those matches, which could have led them into the final stages of the season in a much stronger position in the table.

Alas, Derby are where they are, in eighth, and five points off sixth-placed Hull City with four matches remaining.

Despite a campaign which has exceeded the expectations of many supporters, Derby must look to progress again next season, and strength in depth will no doubt be a key factor in whether they do that or not.

You can often catch Amelia Warren, external as a guest on BBC Radio Derby.

Midfielder Bobby Clark will miss the rest of the Championship season unless Derby reach the play-offs, says head coach John Eustace.

The 21-year-old is on a season-long loan from Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg but picked up a hamstring injury in last week's 2-1 defeat by Southampton which Eustace says will sideline him for the remaining four games of the regular season.

"It's not as bad as we initially thought, which is fantastic news for him, but unfortunately he's going to be missing for three or four weeks so we probably won't see him again this season unless we reach the play-off semi-finals," the Rams boss told BBC Radio Derby.

"That's something we need to keep driving for as we obviously want to see him put on a Derby shirt before the end of the season."

Clark has made 41 league appearances for Derby since joining in August, scoring three goals, and Eustace is keen to try to make his stay permanent.

"He's disappointed not to finish the season with us. He's enjoyed his time here, loved the way he's developed, so I'm pretty confident if the opportunity was here for us to sign him for next season, he'd want to come," he added.

"He's a clever player, a young lad who has come out of his shell throughout the season."

Derby are currently eighth in the Championship table, five points short of the play-off places and host Oxford United on Saturday (12:30 BST).

Derby's hopes of a Championship play-off push took a knock last time out after they suffered a 2-1 defeat at Southampton.

The Rams sit two places and five points adrift of the top six and a positive result on Saturday could keep their play-off hopes alive.

Oxford ended a four-game winless run when they picked up a vital three points against Watford last Saturday.

The U's remain in the bottom three despite that win and are two points off Championship safety.

• Derby have failed to score in their past two league games against Oxford, only once going three without a goal against them (between 1987 and 1991).

• In what is the ninth different league campaign in which the two sides have met, Oxford are looking to complete the double over Derby for the first time.

• Derby have won their past five home league matches, last having a longer run between March and September 2024 (9).

• Oxford have won four of their past eight league games (D3 L1), more wins than they managed in their previous 22 Championship matches combined (3).

• Carlton Morris has scored 12 league goals for Derby this season - the last player to net more in a single Championship campaign for the club was Harry Wilson in 2018-19 (16 – incl. play-offs).

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With Derby County two places and five points outside the Championship play-off places with four games remaining, BBC Sport asked could the Rams still gatecrash the top six?

The responses flooded in and below is a selection of what fans had to say.

William: Yes, despite the loss of key players we've got Carlton Morris back in the fold and other players like Diaz and M Clarke stepping up. We have just gone toe-to- toe with the two best sides in the league, no reason to think we can't get 10 points out of these last four games. Is it unlikely? Yes, but it's possible - especially if Hull continue to slip which I believe they will.

Matt: Whether we do or not isn't a concern to me. I'm looking forward to next year whatever happens. If we improve half as much as we did from last season to this one, we should be serious contenders for a top-two spot. From gameweek 10 up to now we have the third most points. Three or four additions in the summer and taking some of the lessons from this season I'm hoping we'll be right up there.

Leon: We could but it would be hugely dependent on other teams' results. I think we should be extremely happy with the progress we have made this season and get the club prepared for an assault on the automatic positions next season.

Lewis: I think every Derby fan would agree that after the Southampton defeat, the play-off dream is well and truly over. I see no way that Hull will slip up with their remaining games.

Andy: Tough ask to catch Hull, particularly with injuries to key players, but not insurmountable. Let's do this the Derby way.

Gary: As a Derby fan of over 60 years I have seen both highs and lows. The lowest point being relegation from the Premier League with 11 points. I hope that they don't make it this year as, in my opinion, they have over-achieved. Give it another season in the Championship and be better prepared.

Phil: I think most Derby fans have mixed feelings about the play-offs - this season at least. Because if we're in it, there's a chance we could win it - and we're nowhere near ready enough for the Premier League. We've come on in leaps and bounds since administration, but don't want a repeat of THAT season. Most Rams would be happy with seventh, I feel.

Baden: We're still in the pack. We've been dealing with injuries all season and John Eustace has done a great job keeping us in the hunt. We need four wins. A win on Saturday keeps the pressure on the teams around us.

Ian: At the start of the season most fans wanted a season where we weren't in another relegation battle with four games left. So being this close to the play-offs is both a relief and a bonus. To be honest we're not ready for a season in the Premier League. Fingers crossed this time next year, hopefully having signed a few more and kept Ozoh and Clark we'll be well and truly in the mix.

Colin: 100% we should still try to achieve getting in the play-offs. The season is still alive. It won't be easy with Hull City's five-point advantage and Wrexham in front of us. I say keep going lads - you never know what can happen.

Tone: Anything can happen in football, but if Derby end up in the play-offs at this point it will not be purely on merit, and will need Hull and Wrexham to throw away their seasons. Without the injuries this season a play-off place would have been very achievable, but while the attacking has been good, our defence has been sloppy with us conceding some shocking goals as a result. At this point I think the focus needs to be on nursing our players to the end of the season, and give some game time to junior players who are on the verge of first team.

Matthew: Good season. The club is now well-run with good decisions being made behind the scenes and with an excellent manager. Could do with additional investment to help David Clowes. Top six a stretch too far this season.

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"Anything can happen in football."

Derby County boss John Eustace was quick with those words when he was asked if the Rams were still capable of reaching the Championship play-offs after Saturday's defeat by Southampton.

The gap to the top six is five points with four games to play.

Eustace seems to have every reasons to feel that way - mathematically, it's achievable and all season his team have outperformed expectations.

But they are also a side that are dealing with a number of injuries at the business end of the season.

So, we want to hear from Rams fans on the subject.

Can you see Derby reaching the play-offs this season, or was the defeat by Saints too much of a blow?

Click here to get in touch and tell us what you think

Derby County boss John Eustace spoke to BBC Radio Derby after Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Southampton.

"I thought first half we were excellent and in the second half we just ran out of legs. The second goal we conceded was so soft and it was really disappointing the manner we conceded from the free-kick," he said.

"Southampton are obviously a top team with top players but with the way the boys performed today, I was very proud of the efforts. We just couldn't see it over the line.

"We need to keep doing what we have been doing in the final four games. I'm disappointed to lose the game today and we will talk about all the other stuff [injuries to Clark and Murkin] another day.

When asked if he feels it is possible for Derby to still reach the play-offs, he added: "Of course it is. Anything can happen in football. We will just keep going and do what we do.

"We lost the game to a soft goal, came to a top team with a top team and we have to really believe that we can see it through now."

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The EFL has announced the fixtures for the 2026-27 season will be published at midday on Thursday, 25 June.

The first-round draws for the Carabao Cup and the Vertu Trophy will be made on the same day.

The new season will kick off on the weekend of August 7-9 with the first round of the Carabao Cup, and the opening fixtures in the Championship, League One and League Two will follow a week later on 14-16 August.

The first round of the Vertu Trophy will be played in the week commencing 21 September.

Image source, EFL

Millwall striker Josh Coburn has been named the Championship's player of the month for March.

The 23-year-old scored three goals last month as the Lions won two, drew one and lost one of their four matches.

Coburn scored the winning goal against Derby and an important equaliser at promotion rivals Ipswich with his tally for the season currently standing at nine.

It is the second successive month a Millwall player has won the award with winger Femi Azeez taking the February prize.

West Brom defender George Campbell, Southampton goalkeeper Daniel Peretz and Derby defender Matt Clarke were also nominated.

Millwall visit West Brom on Friday night (20:00 BST).

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Derby County forward Patrick Agyemang will be sidelined for "about nine months" with his Achilles injury, boss John Eustace has confirmed.

The US international picked up the serious injury following an awkward landing during Derby's victory against Stoke City on Monday but the club were hesitant to offer a timeline on his recovery.

The injury also ends the American's dreams of starring for his country at a home World Cup, which is set to take place in the US, Canada and Mexico this summer.

"He's obviously devastated to be missing the World Cup," Eustace told BBC Radio Derby.

"Patrick has been a real focal point for us. His development this year has been outstanding and it's going to be a huge blow to us first and foremost for him not to finish the season.

"To miss the World Cup, he's worked his socks off to get into that squad and I think he was very close."

Agyemang's season has ended at a pivotal time for the Rams, who are still in the running for a play-off position.

But while the forward may be a huge loss, Derby still have players in top form - including on-loan midfielder Bobby Clark, who the side are keen to sign permanently from Austrian Bundesliga club Red Bull Salzburg this summer.

"We certainly hope so, why not?" Eustace added. "We want to grow the football club and we want keep as many of our top players as we can and Bobby is certainly one of them.

"Everyone connected with Derby can see how well he's done and how he's part of the family and we'd love to continue his development."

Derby next face promotion rivals Southampton, who are just three points above them in sixth place, away at St Mary's on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Forward Sammie Szmodics has returned to training after being knocked unconscious during international duty with the Republic of Ireland and has not yet been ruled out of Saturday's fixture.

Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds

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Amelia Warren
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

A huge game in the race for the play-offs takes place on Saturday afternoon, when Derby travel to the league's in-form side, Southampton.

Unfortunately for Derby, they will face arguably their toughest test between now and the end of the season without key players Patrick Agyemang, and Ben Brereton Diaz.

Agyemang left the field on a stretcher in the first half of Monday's win against Stoke after suffering an Achilles injury, which also means he will no longer be available to compete in this summer's World Cup for the USA.

It is devastating news for a player who has been so influential for Derby throughout this campaign.

Brereton Diaz will also be unavailable due to Southampton being his parent club.

Two huge blows for Derby, which will no doubt have an effect on their attacking cutting edge.

In Agyemang, the Rams are going to miss having a player who is a focal point, and has the ability to make clever runs in behind. Something which you believe Derby would have looked to use to exploit the Saints' high defensive line.

With Brereton Diaz's absence, Derby will lose someone who possesses a lot of energy, and has an incredible work rate, pressing continuously throughout the 90 minutes.

In terms of replacements, Carlton Morris will provide that physicality and presence up front that the Rams will miss in Agyemang.

The experienced head of Morris will also be a key asset to Derby on Saturday, particularly in periods where they may need to slow the game down and relieve pressure.

Derby's number nine got back on the scoresheet on Monday, netting for the first time since returning from injury. With this you expect him to be full of confidence, and even hungrier to find the net again this weekend.

Sammie Szmodics could be back in contention for a starting spot, after he suffered a concussion on international duty with the Republic of Ireland.

Szmodics would bring the ability to find space between the lines, and also look to get on the end of chances by utilising late runs into the box.

With him in the side, Derby will be more inclined to use quick passing combinations, much like they did for their impressive second goal against Stoke City on Monday, rather than crosses into the box that would enable physical aerial battles.

Jaydon Banel is perhaps the surprise package for Derby, and he could be the one to really make the difference at the weekend. He possesses bags of pace, a fearless attacking approach, and comes into the game off the back of scoring his first goal in English football.

Banel will replace Derby's natural width in the absence of both Brereton Diaz and Agyemang, whilst also allowing the Rams to have an out-ball, likely opening up good counter attacking opportunities and creating a threat in transitions.

The Rams have a good balance of experienced and exciting attacking options to step up and take their opportunities, in the absence of two players who have been really key to their success so far this season.

The upcoming challenge at St Mary's will undoubtedly be a tough one, but should the Rams be able to adapt and cope without their absentees, they could find a result that may be pivotal to whether they finish inside or outside the Championship play-off places come the end of the season.

You can often catch Amelia Warren, external as a guest on BBC Radio Derby.

Southampton are hoping for a sixth successive win in all competitions having reached the FA Cup semi-finals with a victory over Arsenal last weekend and won 5-1 at Wrexham on Tuesday to move into the Championship play-off places.

Derby have won as many games away as they have at home this season (9) but were beaten at Coventry on their last road trip.

• Southampton have lost just one of their past 10 league games against Derby (W3 D6), going down 1-0 at home in February 2007.

• This is Derby's first away league game against Southampton since February 2012, when they lost 4-0 under Nigel Clough.

• Since Tonda Eckert's first game in charge of Southampton on 5 November, the Saints have picked up the most points (54) and scored the most goals (55) of any Championship side.

• John Eustace has picked up 84 points in 55 Championship games with Derby County (W24 D12 L19), the fifth-most of any side since his first game in charge last February.

• Finn Azaz has been involved in eight goals in his past 12 home league starts for Southampton (5 goals, 3 assists), including three in his last three (2 goals, 1 assist).

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Oxford United's Matt Bloomfield, Tonda Eckert of Southampton, West Brom interim boss James Morrison and Coventry's Frank Lampard have all been nominated for the March Championship manager of the month award.

Bloomfield led Oxford to seven points from their four games last month to give them hope of avoiding relegation from the Championship, while Eckert's Southampton went unbeaten in March - and won at leaders Coventry.

Morrison was handed the task of lifting West Brom clear of the bottom three and took eight points from an unbeaten four-game run.

Coventry have continued their charge towards the Premier League, with Lampard overseeing three wins and just that one blemish in the defeat by Southampton.

Southampton goalkeeper Daniel Peretz and West Brom defender George Campbell are nominated for the player of the month award along with Millwall striker Josh Coburn and Derby defender Matt Clarke.

The winners of both awards will be announced on Friday morning.

Derby County head coach John Eustace spoke to BBC Radio Derby following Monday's 2-0 win against Stoke City.

"I thought it was an excellent performance today. The boys were top drawer from start to finish," he said.

"Obviously after Friday night and the effort they put in against the best team in the league [Coventry City] was outstanding, and to come away with nothing was really disappointing.

"We could easily have turned up today feeling a little sorry for ourselves, but the way the lads really stepped on and were on the front foot, the football we played today was outstanding."

On Patrick Agyemang's injury: "Pat's gone off and gone for a scan, so we will have to wait and see. We don't want to see any player going off on a stretcher, and we don't want to lose our best players, so let's see how long it will be."

Derby County manager John Eustace claims the Rams must defend better after they narrowly lost a see-saw match 3-2 at Coventry City.

Ben Brereton Diaz twice levelled for promotion-chasing Derby before Jack Rudoni netted a late winner for Coventry and Eustace was unhappy with his side's defending for all three Sky Blues goals.

He told BBC Radio Derby: "I thought the whole team performance was very good.

"The three goals we conceded were really poor from our part and it's something, moving forward, we've got to stop doing, especially when we got to back to 2-2, I thought we could go and win it.

"We've conceded really sloppy goals, not doing the basics, tracking runners and not defending well enough.

"It's just not good enough. We could have a lot more points this season if we had done it for the whole 95 minutes and we spoke about that in the dressing room. But we still can't take away from the effort of the group today.

"You look at the players they're bringing on to make changes in that second half and we've still gone toe to toe with them.

"We're really disappointed we haven't won the game and the way we played in the first half was excellent."

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Derby County head coach John Eustace expects "more growth" from his side as they try to end the season on a high and secure a play-off spot.

The Rams are eighth in the Championship, three points off the play-offs, but face a testing Easter weekend with a trip to league leaders Coventry on Friday (20:00 BST) before they host Stoke City on Monday.

Eustace says he would have snapped your hand off to be in this position after a tough start to the campaign, but is keen not to go up another level for the run-in.

"Really proud of the effort of the whole football club to get to this stage," Eustace said.

"To be in this position with seven games to go is a fantastic achievement, but we want to keep going and see how high we can finish.

"If you take the first 10 games out we'd be in a much stronger position. There's still a lot more growth to come from this group so let's enjoy the ride and keep going.

"We're playing two top teams and I'm sure it'll be a great atmosphere in both games."

Eustace also provided an update on his squad before the double header.

Sam Szmodics is unavailable for both games as he recovers from the concussion sustained on international duty, while forward Rhian Brewster is a doubt after picking up a knock in his most recent outing.

Meanwhile, Patrick Agyemang and Ben Brereton Diaz are both available after impressing on international duty for the United States and Chile, respectively.

"He's great now," Eustace said of Szmodics. "He's been going through all the protocols he has to.

"He's ticking all the right boxes, unfortunately he can't play on Friday or Monday, which is a huge blow to us. The most important thing is he's healthy and he's getting better.

"Patrick's worked his socks off this season and it's great that he scored. We want to help him get to the World Cup with the USA squad. He's making the right moves, he's just got to keep going.

"Rhian's being assessed. We'll have to wait and see, but he's making steady progress."