This article is part of Football League World's 'Regular Punter' series, where we gather original opinions from select, passionate fans of the clubs concerned on matters surrounding their team and share them with a wider audience...

Football League World's Derby County fan pundit Lisa Howard has backed her club to overcome the serious injury suffered by club captain Richard Keogh in midweek.

The 33-year-old was involved in a car crash earlier this week, along with teammates Tom Lawrence and Mason Bennett who were later charged with driving drunk, and is now expected to be out until the end of the season.

But Howard believes that they can make the best of the situation.

"Keogh will be a miss as he has been fantastic again this season," the regular punter told Football League World.

"But I think we have cover in that position, so it might be time to see the team without Keogh, and who knows, it might work out for the best.

"I think we will see Bielik step into the centre-half position, as this is his natural role. We also have (Luke) Buchanan who is only 18 and he has looked good when in the squad."

Last season saw Keogh play every minute of every match for the Rams, including all three of their play-off clashes, so he will undoubtedly prove a big loss.

The entire situation only serves to heap even more pressure onto manager Phillip Cocu, with the club already languishing towards the foot of the table after eight games.

They have won just one match since the start of the campaign and none since that opening day victory against Huddersfield Town and face another test against Birmingham City this weekend.

The incident comes just days after the club had picked up a confidence-boosting 1-1 draw away to Leeds United on Saturday, with Cocu now facing a real test to invigorate his squad again.

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