Derby County are set to begin their League One campaign on the 5th August against Wigan Athletic, and many are touting Paul Warne’s side as favourites for promotion back to the Championship.
Derby fans were left heartbroken at the end of the 2022/23 season, missing out on a play-off position on the final day of the season to Peterborough United, who went on to lose to Sheffield Wednesday in the semi-finals. The Owls continued on to win the final at Wembley for promotion back to the second tier of English football after a two-year absence.
Derby will be looking to emulate Wednesday this year and end their absence from the Championship following their relegation in 2022. That year saw ownership problems stealing the headlines at Pride Park, leaving Wayne Rooney with little to work with, leading to their expected relegation to England’s third tier. Many think Derby will be up near the top of League One this season, but why?
New Signings
Derby have done some really good business so far in this summer transfer window and are clearly backing Warne and his vision to help get Derby back to the Championship.
There has been a signing in the goalkeeping department, with former Lincoln City and Rotherham stopper Josh Vickers putting pen to paper on a three-year deal with The Rams. Vickers will compete for a place in the team, alongside last season’s starting keeper Joe Wildsmith. The former Arsenal academy product has plenty of promotion experience, achieving League Two promotion with Lincoln in 2019 and being a key part of Rotherham’s League One promotion-winning side in 2022.
The Union 🧤#DCFC pic.twitter.com/1gGtFmqf1b
— Derby County (@dcfcofficial) July 12, 2023
Improvements in the defensive department have been a big priority for Derby this summer so far, adding experienced defenders Curtis Nelson and Sonny Bradley, with the latter having just left Luton Town and looking to achieve back-to-back promotions after featuring 19 times for Luton on their way to securing Premier League football.
The addition of Callum Elder on the left-hand side to replace Haydon Roberts is a positive signing and, once again, a player with League One experience during his time at Hull City, where he earnt promotion to the Championship. Kane Wilson is an exciting addition at right-back, as he is a player that will be looking to prove that he is capable of playing League One football regularly, after being named as League Two’s Player of the Season in the 2021/22 season with Forest Green Rovers.
Derby have also added Joe Ward to their ranks, following his contract expiring at Peterborough United, as well as experienced striker Conor Washington. Ward adds plenty of versatility to Derby’s squad, being able to play as a wing-back, full-back and winger on the right-hand side. During his time at Peterborough, Ward achieved promotion to the Championship in the 2020/21 season, and was named in the League One Team of the Season, scoring five goals and contributing 13 assists.
Derby won’t be done with their business yet, but the most impressive thing about it so far is the amount of experienced promotion winners they are adding to their squad and that makes it clear promotion is expected at Pride Park this season.
Summer signing number seven 🙌#DCFC #dcfcfans pic.twitter.com/FWWAGSEB5r
— Derby County (@dcfcofficial) July 10, 2023
Established Members of the Squad Retained
As well as bringing in quality in the transfer market, Derby have managed to retain established members of their squad that helped them get within an inch of making the play-offs last season, despite losing the likes of David McGoldrick and Jason Knight.
With Derby retaining key members of their team and adding quality to the squad in the transfer market, many online bookmakers reckon the Rams have a good shot in the 2023/24 season. For any fans fancying a punt, this could be a golden chance to back The Rams at some of the top betting sites in the UK for the upcoming season.
Key midfielders Conor Hourihane and Max Bird have stayed with the club. The former brings excellent left-footed deliveries into the box, from both set-pieces and in-play situations as well as a midfielder with an ability to make late runs into the box. Bird has a reputation of being a key part of Derby’s side, with Warne using the player to help control the attacking play as well as breaking up opposition attacks. Keeping him fit will be a crucial part of their success this season.
James Collins, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Tom Barkhuizen are all top-end League One quality and all proved to be key parts of their squad last season, with the former notching 12 goals in the league.
Paul Warne’s Promotion Experience
As well as building a squad suited for promotion, Derby also have Warne at the helm who knows everything there is to know about earning promotion from League One, having achieved the feat with Rotherham no less than three times in six seasons.
Warne will be able to pull Derby through difficult moments by using his experience from his time at Rotherham; having an experience manager is key in tough situations, especially towards the end of the season.
Warne will look to bring in more bodies to his squad before the transfer window ends, but with just a few weeks to go until the season kicks off, Derby are clear promotion favourites.
