In my article last week, I offered some thoughts on the positions Derby may decide to strengthen during the January transfer window; this week my focus is on those players who may be on their way out.

Those who are out of contract at the end of the season offer some possibilities. Among the Rams players in that category are some with significant first team experience; Stephen Warnock, Simon Dawkins and Conor Sammon, are all out of contract in June.

Being a current first team player, Warnock looks unlikely to leave in January, while Sammon is on loan at Sheffield United for the season.

Simon Dawkins has appeared only in the Portsmouth League Cup match and seems unlikely to have any future role with Derby. There seems to be little benefit to player or club in his staying, so he may well be gone in January.

Of those still under contract, Raul Albentosa is out on a season-long loan; it may be that this could be turned into a permanent move either now or at seasons end.

Alex Pearce is another player who has appeared only in the Portsmouth League Cup match. Pearce must be unhappy about the way his move to the Rams has turned out and may very well be looking to rebuild his career elsewhere. A permanent or loan move is not out of the question, especially as he is a very experienced player with leadership experience.

Another who may be unhappy at how his Rams career is going is Darren Bent; if the right opportunity came along for a loan move, and a suitable replacement was found, it may be to everyone’s advantage.

Andreas Weimann has regularly appeared in the starting line-up or as a sub in all but one of the Rams’ matches but for me has not pulled up any trees. Considering he has a four year contract with the club it seems unlikely he will be going anywhere but will be looking over his shoulder with Ince and Russell currently favoured over him and rumours of similar players swirling.

Mason Bennett and Kwame Thomas are two others I do not expect to be leaving the club but I would really like to see them sent out on loan in January. Both of them need a successful loan spell; Bennett has not played first team football for a long while, and Thomas needs a more fulfilling spell than his ill-fated spell at Blackpool earlier this season.

Finally, what will be done about the future of goalkeeper Lee Grant, after his performance at Leeds? Grant had previously done well as a back up to Scott Carson, but on Tuesday he cost the Rams two much-needed points.

There are those who will say that everyone makes mistakes and a keeper’s mistakes always stand out and look worse. Misjudging the angle of a cross, or not adequately narrowing the angle are examples of mistakes, but for Leeds’ first goal Grant seemed to completely lose his composure: in the space of about twelve seconds I counted four mistakes.

First, he flapped a cross weakly against a Leeds player; second, he chased after the loose ball long after it was obvious he would not reach it; third, after a Leeds player got the ball, Grant stood and watched the match for a while instead of haring back to his goal; fourth, when the cross came in he could have knocked it away for a corner or let one of three Rams players head it away, but instead chose to flap the ball back into the danger area from where Leeds duly scored. A Leeds goal was the only thing I could see ending the lunacy.

Grant was also at fault for Leeds second goal, refusing to leave his line for a cross dropping into the six yard box. Given that the Rams have to be giving some thought to life in the Premier League, the question must be asked whether the Rams can consider going up with Grant even as back up keeper.

I certainly have no idea what Paul Clement thinks about the situation, but I could see Grant moving on in January, if a reliable number two keeper could be found.

All told, even if all the players I have mentioned made a move, it would not translate into all that much movement away from the club in January.

This is probably as it should be with the Rams still very much in building mode and incoming moves should be, and likely to be, much more interesting than the outgoing ones.

In the meantime, it’s the big one on Saturday.

A return to clean sheets would be welcome... dare we hope for a win?

COYR!

Photo: Action Images

Ramtastic2016 added 20:56 - Jan 1 What a brilliant write up! Totally agree. The only slightly controversial player would be Weimann but on the Grant issue. What do you think about trying out Jonathon Mitchell
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