Derby County have enjoyed a promising summer transfer window since David Clowes completed the takeover of the Rams, and will be quietly confident ahead of the 2022/23 League One season kicking off on Saturday.

The Rams have made 11 summer signings, without paying a single transfer fee, and will be hoping that the new additions can fire them towards a promotion push in the third tier.

The jury is out on Liam Rosenior's credentials as the main figure in the dugout, but the former full back does appear to have contributed a lot for the club, as assistant manager in trying circumstances over the last couple of seasons.

Curtis Davies was a standout player for Derby in their valiant relegation battle in the Championship last term, and the 37-year-old explained how the club have attacked recruitment this summer when he guested on The Official EFL Podcast.

He said: "This portfolio of players (was put together) that they were going to try and approach who were out of contract, because we knew that the budget was going to be tight.

"So, in terms of free contracts and things like that, experienced players to try and get some experience in, obviously we had a lot of young players last year, and they (the recruitment team) put this list together, how many would come they didn't know, obviously when the first takeover fell apart, a few off of that list that hadn't signed have gone elsewhere, from the rest we managed to get a lot of them over the line, because the takeover happened.

"I think the reason that a lot of them have come is that Derby County is a great football club, it's a great project, but like me a lot of them are a bit older, can be a bit more selective in their decisions because of the careers they've had and being midlands-based, it's actually helped us.

"A few of the lads are from Birmingham, James Collins' family are in Coventry, James Chester's in Warrington, so he's able to at least stay in Derby twice a week and things like that."

With such a strong crop of young players breaking into the first team in recent years, the senior heads added to the group could play a crucial role in the development of the likes of Max Bird, Jason Knight and Louie Sibley.

With the calibre of player that they have brought in, automatic promotion has to be the aim.

The Verdict

Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town still lead the way with the bookmakers in League One, but after picking up 55 points, not including deductions, in the Championship last season with arguably a worse squad than they have now, there are plenty of reasons for optimism at Pride Park.

Derby County begin the campaign by hosting Karl Robinson's Oxford United.

The Yellows finished in the top six in 2019/20 and 2020/21, before ending up in eighth last season, despite being the joint-top scorers in the division.

There are a handful of very mouth-watering fixtures in the opening weekend, and the Rams kicking off on their home patch is right up there.