The news that Frank Fielding would not be able to see out the season in goal for was bad enough but Hull recalling Matt Duke made matters worse. Luckily Liverpool has come to the rescue with Aussie keeper Brad Jones.

Jones is the second player to join the Rams on loan from Anfield and will reunite in defence with his good friend Daniel Ayala and former team mate Shaun Barker.

As an Australian I have always been impressed by Brad Jones and followed his career with the basic interest I afford all of my fellow countrymen making good overseas. The 29 year old, 6 foot 3 inch stopper has always impressed me in goal and has been very unlucky to spend much of his career as a second or third choice.

Despite being understudy for Mark Schwarzer at both club (Boro) and International level for Australia, when given an opportunity has impressed with the gloves. That potential was rewarded with a big money move to Anfield this season as a back up for Pepe Reina.

More recently in the lead up to the South African world cup he came to the attention of all Aussies as their hearts went out to Jones as his young son was diagnosed with Leukaemia and the decision to walk away from his World Cup dreams. Like all good fathers, family came first.

Derby has been lucky enough to sign Jones on loan till the end of the season and as always I am excited to have one of my fellow countrymen pull on a Rams shirt.

Nigel Clough was nearly as happy as me:

"Matt was due to play for our reserves on Tuesday, but we got a late call from Hull to say they wished to recall him. They were perfectly entitled to do that as he is their player, so we had to use our contacts pretty quickly to get someone of sufficient quality in the building.”

"Brad fits the bill perfectly; he has Premier League experience, Football League experience and - importantly - big game experience. We have some big games coming up between now and May, and he will be our number one in them.”

"He hasn't had much first-team football this season, so I'm pretty sure he will be looking forward to the challenge.”

"He also knows Daniel Ayala well and he has also played with Shaun Barker in the past which will be good for him when working with the back four going into his first game at Cardiff.”

"Liverpool has done us a big favour and I would like to thank Kenny Dalglish and the other officials at Anfield for agreeing to loan another of their players to Derby County."

Brad Jones was pleased to have first team football to look forward too:

"I've missed playing games, and that is the main reason I'm here. As soon as I found out Derby were interested I said 'I'll be there whenever they want me.”

"I knew what the situation was when I went to Liverpool in the summer; I knew I would be number two behind Pepe Reina.”

"I do miss playing and sadly Liverpool haven't had the best of domestic cup runs this season, so I've had little chance for a run-out. I'm really excited about joining Derby and I'm looking forward to playing some games and having a decent end to the season.”

"I've had a look at the fixtures and we play a lot of the top sides during my eight games, so that is something to look forward to. I can't wait to get out there and hopefully keep a few clean sheets along the way."

For those who know little or nothing about our latest loan signing, as always RamZone have prepared a full player profile with a little help from Wikipedia.

Bradley Scott "Brad" Jones 

 Brad was born on the 19 March of March 1982 in Armadale, Western Australia to English parents. His Father was from Slough and his mother from Maghull, Liverpool.

His youth career begun at Bayswater City SC in WA before being trialled and then signing for Middlesbrough. He came through their youth system and signed a professional contract in March of 1999.

Five years later he made his first team debut in the FA Cup third round against Notts County and later that season won a League Cup when Boro defeated Bolton 2-1.

Jones was playing understudy to a fellow Aussie in Mark Schwarzer and as a result found first team football on loan at various clubs including Stockport County, Blackpool and Sheffield Wednesday.

While at Wednesday in 2006 he was a part of a very sad day for football, when a bunch of unruly fans turned on their own keeper by throwing coins and other items at him during a home game against Queens Park Rangers.

On the opposite end of the career scale, during the same season he pulled on the gloves for Boro during a match against Manchester United and made headlines for saving a Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty which gave his team a point in the 0-0 draw.

In the 08/09 season his long time friend and mentor Mark Schwarzer made the move to Fulham which elevated Jones to first choice goalkeeper at Middlesbrough. He was injured for a few months early in the season only to return for the remainder of what became a relegation season for Boro.

Although injured for the beginning of the 09/10 season he returned to goal for most of the season which ended in obscurity as Boro failed to bounce back into the Premier League.

Despite Middlesbrough’s struggles, Jones was a highly rated for performances that had saved many a game from ending much worse for his club.

In August of 2010, his performances produced interest and finally a move to Liverpool in a deal that was reportedly worth £2.3 million.

He was handed the number 1 shirt after goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri left the club ahead of Liverpool's clash with Manchester City. Jones made his unofficial début in Jamie Carragher's testimonial against an Everton XI, and impressed with a string of impressive saves.

He has spent most of the season as understudy for Pepe Reina but eventually Jones made his debut for Liverpool F.C. in a League Cup 3rd Round tie against Northampton Town on 23 September 2010. He made his second start for the club on the 15th of December 2010 in a Europa League game against Utrecht, getting his first clean sheet for the Reds.

Jones’s international has mirrored his time at Boro in terms of playing second fiddle to Mark Schwarzer but received his first senior international call up in February 2007 in a friendly match. He made his first senior international start on 2 June 2007 against Uruguay.

He was part of Australia's début campaign in the 2007 Asian Cup, but he did not feature in any of their matches. Additionally, he was selected as one of the three goalkeepers in Australia's final 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup but chose to step down from the Socceroos squad following the news his young son had been diagnosed with leukemia.

In total he has played 92 senior career games in goal and been capped by Australia 3 times.

RamZone would like to wish Brad the best of luck in his times at Derby and hope he can provide a safe pair of hands during the important matches to come.

And on a personal note…. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie…. Oi, Oi, Oi!!

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Daniel J Sewart

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