Despite being unbeaten in five games, Derby County are still struggling to string together wins under caretaker boss Wayne Rooney.

Since withdrawing himself from Derby's playing squad, Rooney has led the Rams to a five-match streak without losing, but four of those results have been draws.

Some of the same issues remain though and they're still struggling to find the back of the net, and young stars like Louie Sibley aren't having the impact they did last season.

Things will need to change pretty quickly or else County will be stuck in a relegation battle for the rest of the season, which means the January transfer window is incredibly important.

The takeover of Abu Dhabi royal family member Sheikh Khaled can't come soon enough, and an injection of transfer funds would see a few current first team players sweating for their places.

Lets look at two of those Derby players who may be battling for their futures with the transfer window right around the corner.

Tom Lawrence

Some Derby fans weren't too pleased as Lawrence returned to the line-up for the goalless draw against Stoke, as he's generally flattered to deceive this season.

The Wales international has appeared 13 times in the league without scoring or assisting, which is a far cry from his ten-goal haul in the 2019/20 campaign.

There's still time for Lawrence to hit his stride, especially as he was dealing with personal issues earlier in the season, but whoever the Derby manager is when the January transfer window comes around, might be looking for a fresher option out wide for the second half of the season.

Martyn Waghorn

County's options up-front are razor-thin, with just Waghorn and Colin Kazim-Richards the senior options to choose from for Rooney right now.

That probably explains why the Rams have struggled for goals all season, with Waghorn netting just twice in 12 league appearances.

A new striker in January is crucial and such a move will leave Waghorn fearing for his place in the starting line-up - unless he could potentially forge a partnership with a new arrival.