Derby County proved last season that they’re a club that can be hugely beneficial to a young player's career.

Fikayo Tomori, Mason Mount and Harry Wilson were all integral to the Rams' play-off run under Frank Lampard last season and have broken through into Premier League sides in the 2019/20 campaign.

The East Midlands club returned to the loan market this summer to try and replenish their squad and it must’ve seemed a no-brainer for Everton to send Kieran Dowell to Pride Park on a season-long loan.

 

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The England under-21 international was a bit-part player for Sheffield United in their promotion campaign last year and has a handful of appearances for the Toffees already but regular first-team football is likely what he needs at this point.

Seven games into the season, we have put a spotlight on his performances for the Rams to assess how he is getting on.

The departure of Mount, who racked up 11 goals and six assists last season, left a hole in Derby’s midfield and for much of the season, Dowell has been tasked with filling it.

Following the Chelsea man was always going to be a difficult task and despite being a regular feature, Dowell has not quite found his feet in Phillip Cocu’s side.

The 21-year-old started the first six Championship games of the season for Derby, mostly fitting in on the right or left of a midfield three, but was dropped for the game against Cardiff City last weekend.

Dowell’s production has not been good enough since arriving at Pride Park, as he has provided no goals and just one assist in 540 minutes of football.

In the 4-3-3 system that Cocu has utilised for much of the season, an important part of the England under-21 international’s role as a central midfielder is driving his side up the pitch and creating opportunities for the forwards.

Dowell has done that, averaging 1.5 shot assists per game and 1.83 progressive runs per game, but perhaps not to the level that has been expected of him.

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He has looked tidy in possession and used the ball well, making a total of 232 passes with a success rate of 80.2%, but in truth, his distribution in attacking areas has not been good enough – as evidenced by a success rate for passes into the final third of 62.8% and a success rate for passes into the box of 47.1%.

Without the ball, he has worked hard and his average of 4.67 recoveries per game and 64.7% defensive duel success rate reflect that, but in truth, he is in the side for his offensive output.

Up until this point, Dowell has not been good enough for the Rams, which has led to deserved criticism from Cocu, who has said the club “expect more from him”.

Both Derby and Everton will be hoping that we see exactly that moving forward.