It has been a summer of major change at Derby County as they prepare for their 11th consecutive season in the second tier.

Derby came close to winning promotion last season but their automatic promotion challenge was derailed in the second half of the season.

The Rams had to settle for narrowly reaching the play-offs, where they lost 2-1 to eventual winners Fulham on aggregate, despite leading 1-0 after the first leg.

Their loss was followed by Gary Rowett's departure as he decided to jump ship and join Stoke City instead, meaning that Derby searched for a new boss.

Frank Lampard - the former Chelsea and England legend - was named as Rowett's successor and he is now tasked with ensuring success at Pride Park.

But there are many obstacles in his way before the start of the season.

With pre-season now getting underway, it is time for him to address these three obstacles.

Derby owner Mel Morris is quite keen to keep a tight hold of the purse-strings this summer after years of spending have yielded little success.

Lampard will not have a sizeable budget with which he can strengthen his side so he has to be creative in the transfer market.

Lampard has never been in charge of a team so he needs to decide his formation and style of play.

Then, he needs to get his methods across to his players so that Derby can hit the ground running when the season starts.

Matej Vydra is strongly linked with a move to Leeds United and this saga has been rumbling on.

If the Czech Republic striker - who netted 21 goals in the league last season - does depart, Derby need to replace his goals and Bristol City's Bobby Reid and Peterborough United's Jack Marriott could fill that void.