Derby County are hopeful of completing the signing of free agent Efe Ambrose as Frank Lampard looks to strengthen his defence.

The Nigerian triggered a clause at former club Hibs that allowed him to leave the Scottish Premiership side on a free at the start of last month.

It was then revealed over the weekend that he had been training with the Rams in the hope of winning a deal at Pride Park.

And, boss Lampard told Derbyshire Live that he is keen on the player and that talks are at an advanced stage - although a deal has not yet been agreed.

"It’s close to being finalised but not quite done, so I don’t want to jump the gun."

Providing the deal does go through, the ex-Celtic man would be a welcome addition for the Rams as they are extremely short for options at centre-back.

Lampard allowed Alex Pearce to leave to join Millwall last month, whilst the experienced Curtis Davies is set to miss the rest of the season.

That means that current pairing Richard Keogh and Fikayo Tomori are the only senior players available to Derby at centre-back.

The Verdict

Derby are in desperate need for a centre-back to provide competition so this would be an ideal signing for the side.

Even though the Nigerian is still prone to making mistakes and losing concentration, he improved a lot during his time at Hibs and is a very good player on his day.

He has a lot of experience and should be able to settle into the Championship no problem so Lampard will hope this is finalised as soon as possible.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.