Derby had another close run season last year, narrowly missing out on promotion in another year of wasted opportunities and poor management.

Manager Paul Clement splashed the cash on players like Jacob Butterfield, Bradley Johnson, Nick Blackman and Marcus Olsson.

They started the season well and were around top by Christmas but badly fell away in the New Year, resulting in the sacking of Clement who was replaced by academy coach Darren Wassall.

Wassall was criticised for tactical ineptness but led Derby to the play-offs, where they were beaten by Hull in the semi-finals.

Now with Nigel Pearson in charge who won the Championship with Premier League Champions Leicester a few years ago, the fans are confident they have the right man to lead them forward.

They have made no major signings yet but will hope Pearson spends the money wisely as Clement's signings like Bradley Johnson and Nick Blackman badly flopped.

They need to get some support for Chris Martin up front as Nick Blackman failed to do it last season. They also must clear the deadwood from the squad.

Here are THREE players fighting for their future at Derby.....

 

Nick Blackman

Nick BlackmanNick Blackman

One of the major reasons Derby fell away in January was the goals drying up.

They were over relying on striker Chris Martin and when he hit a dry patch, fellow strikers Andreas Weimann and Darren Bent failed to compensate.

He managed just 14 goals but was injured for 9 games so as a last ditch attempt to fix their goal scoring problem they signed Reading striker Nick Blackman who was in very good form.

He had scored 11 goals already for Reading by January and was spearheading a fading promotion challenge so joined Derby.

He has only played a handful of times and is a major flop, he will be hoping Nigel Pearson uses him a lot more than Darren Wassall did so he can prove himself.

The striker proved at Reading he is a capable Championship striker and he can partner Chris Martin next season to reduce the workload.

Bradley Johnson

johnsonnn77

Johnson was a surprise deadline day move from Derby who coughed up £6 million for the Norwich midfielder.

What must of been attractive to Derby was his amazing form for Norwich the previous season which was crucial to their promotion.

He scored 15 goals from midfield and was voted Fans Player of the Year and seemed destined to be a hit for Derby.

He started well enough but in all he was a very disappointing signing, scoring just 5 goals and fans criticise him for a poor work rate.

Johnson was often outperformed by other midfielders like Jacob Butterfield and Jeff Hendrick, and fans would have been happy to see him dropped towards the end of the season.

Darren Bent

benty

The 32- year-old was another hugely disappointing signing, after impressing in the previous seasons loan spell.

He scored an impressive 10 goals in 15 games in the 2014/15 season earning him a permanent move from Aston Villa.

He mainly played when Martin wasn't fit or when the side desperately needed a goal, but managed only 2 goals in 21 appearances.

The 32-year-old failed to score his share and fellow striker Nick Blackman suffered from the same.

Derby need strikers who can fill in for their star man at any time and last season Bent and Blackman failed to do this.

Bent must use his international experience and Premier League years to start scoring again and lead Derby to the Premier League.

Thoughts and opinions Derby fans? Leave thoughts and opinions below!