Derby County have experienced a mixed season so far under new boss Phillip Cocu, with the side currently in the bottom half of the table.

The Rams haven’t won an away fixture since the opening day of the season when they bettered Huddersfield Town in a narrow 2-1 win at the John Smith’s Stadium.

Subsequently, they have picked up just three points on the road at Stoke City, Leeds United and Barnsley. Since the latter occurred in early October, the Rams have lost their last four away from Pride Park and have failed to score in each one.

In a stark contrast, though, they have won their last five matches at Pride Park and bolster one of the best home records in the entire division.

Derby fans would be right to believe that they had TWO players at their disposal last season that would have almost certainly made them better off now, here we take a look at the pair...

Scott Carson

The England-capped goalkeeper left for the Premier League champions Manchester City at the beginning of the season in what has perhaps turned about to be Derby’s biggest mistake.

Kelle Roos remained at the club whilst Carson left, despite his Wembley woes in the play-off final where he failed to deal with a looping cross and lost out to a 5ft 10in John McGinn.

Now, Derby fans are sarcastically cheering whenever Roos catches the ball and even Cocu has began highlighting his mistakes.

Carson is an absolute professional and veteran of the game. He can command his defence and claim crosses and set pieces. Roos hasn’t shown that he can do any of that so far this campaign and it has undoubtedly cost the valuable points.

Craig Bryson

Derby were always going to miss Bryson however their season went. The Scotsman spent eight years at the club and established himself as a cult hero with a hat-trick against east Midland’s rivals Nottingham Forest.

Can you name Derby County’s last 15 managers? (not including caretakers)

They even signed a Scottish midfielder of a similar kind to reduce their withdrawal symptoms. Whilst Graeme Shinnie has been a good addition, Derby really miss Bryson’s work rate in the centre of the park. In away games, you need bite and fight and Bryson provided that.

Sometimes you need to be mean, sly and nasty to win games away from home and there is no doubt that Derby became weaker in all these departments once Bryson left for Scotland.