It promises to be a nervy end to the season for Derby County as they look to cling onto their Championship status.

The Rams are currently embarking on a dreadful run of form of late, losing five games on the spin and winning only one of their last 13 matches.

Thankfully for Wayne Rooney and his side, Rotherham United have been unable to capitalise on having games in hand, and there remains a four-point gap between the Rams and the bottom three.

Derby will hope that their arch rivals, Nottingham Forest, can do them a favour this weekend by beating Sheffield Wednesday to send them down, and their focus will then turn to an away clash with Swansea later on in the day.

But it has been such a poor season for Derby, and that is inexcusable. So much work is required both on and off the pitch this summer if they are to avoid this happening again.

Here, we take a look at the two biggest decisions facing Rooney at Derby this summer...

Who to keep?

It promises to be a summer of transition for the club.

Erik Alonso is still awaiting EFL approval to take over at Pride Park, and the Spaniard will have to put his hands into his pockets as they look to recruit players.

The club made five loan signings on the final day of the January transfer window, who are all obviously set to return to their parent clubs in the summer.

Key players such as Curtis Davies, Martyn Waghorn and Andre Wisdom are all set to be out of contract, and Matt Clarke will also return to Brighton.

Derby's squad is already very thin and short of numbers, and the big task for Rooney straight away will be to decide on who he keeps.

Does he focus on the younger players and building for the future, or does he look to retain their more experienced players in order to keep the squad intact?

How to change the mentality?

Derby look like such a fragile outfit at the moment.

The Rams, whenever they seem to go a goal down, are always unable to ignite a response and their confidence looks shot. That is shown by their losing run of late.

Making 11 new signings may or may not improve that, but Rooney has to question whether he is a good enough motivator to ensure that that mindset doesn't hinder them going forward.

Derby have a plethora of experienced players already at the club who should be performing better and should be taking the dressing room by the scruff of the neck. It is a concern as to why they aren't showing character during these difficult times.