Derby has received its first bad news in quite some time with the results of Richard Keogh’s knee scan signalling at least four weeks off for the Rams skipper.

Many feared the worst as Keogh left the field looking devastated, after injuring his right knee in the 35th minute on Saturday.

Scans conducted over the weekend showed that Keogh had damaged the medial ligaments, resulting in around a month out of action for the Captain.

His sidelining opens the door for Manchester United Loanee Michael Keane who impressed after coming on to replace Keogh, while fit-again defenders Zak Whitbread and Mark O’Brien will be pressing for a return to the bench on Boxing Day.

Both Keane and Whitbread’s loan deals come to a close at the end of the year but Steve McClaren has indicated that work is being done to secure at least one of them for the remainder of the season with Keane being the most likely.

The month that Keogh will miss is a particularly busy one and a time that has traditionally shaped the face of the league for the remainder of the season. 8 games in just over 4 weeks could have made or broken the Rams season by the time their Captain returns.

Speaking to the DET — Steve McClaren was confident the loss of Keogh’s can be covered:

“I don’t think losing Richard impacted on us — I thought Michael came in and did very well, he did great and he has got to form a partnership with Jake Buxton now. You saw Michael and how composed and quick he is. He can come out with the ball and make us play football.”

“He is also a real threat at set-pieces and should have scored with a couple of headers in the second half. One of the reasons we brought in Michael was for such a situation as this. We are lucky to have him here to step in when we have injuries. I talked about that from the first day we got him here and now he gets a chance to show us what he can do.”

Despite his optimism — McClaren was not down playing how valuable Keogh has been in their barn storming run:

“Richard, and Bucko, epitomise what the team has been about, people might look at our football, our goals, at Chrissy Martin, Bryson and Will Hughes but, for me, the rock has been Lee Grant, Buxton, Keogh, Andre Wisdom coming in and Craig Forsyth improving, and John Eustace. That has been our platform and Richard Keogh has been a big part of that.”

Rams fans will be hoping this is not a hiccup that will de-stabilise the good ship Derby from its current course. Richard Keogh has been a major cog but for once we can honestly look at the depth on offer and know we are not scraping the bottom of the barrel.

And with January just around the corner — if loan deals can’t be extended or any cracks start to appear in the squad - hopefully they will be quickly rectified.

All of us at RamZone, and I am sure all Rams fans, wish Richard Keogh the best for his recovery and a speedy return to the team.

The ship may still sail without him but we want our Captain on the bridge as we navigate to dock for the good Port Promotion!

Photo: Action Images

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