Concluding the Championship season with a 1-0 defeat to Cardiff City, Derby County will now start fully preparing for a campaign in League One.

Chris Kirchner is also edging ever-closer to finalising the takeover of the club, something that will provide Rams fans with a sense of relief.

Given the continued uncertainty around what the squad will look like next season for their third-tier adventure, Wayne Rooney has addressed the futures of four of his more experienced first-teamers going into the summer, in conversation with Derbyshire Live: "I have spoke to Tom about staying at the club. We need to obviously get the right deal in place for that. He wants to stay, same with Kelle.

"I want to keep Kelle, I have told Kelle that, I think he is a fantastic goalkeeper. Him and Ryan [Allsop] are two of the best goalkeepers in the Championship, so obviously I want to keep the both of them.

"The only thing with Kelle is if he wants to go and play as a number one, as I have said Ryan is the number one at the minute. It would be great if Kelle stays.

 

 

"With Fozzy (Craig Forsyth), he has been here a long time, 10 years. I’ve spoken to Fozzy and I’m sure he won’t mind me saying that we are still making a decision on that."

The verdict

Rooney has some difficult decisions to make regarding his squad and how best to prepare for the rigours of next season. 

There are lots of players who are coming to the end of their deals at Pride Park, with the fact that they will be playing their football in League One next season meaning that they could lose some of their more ambitious players. 

Keeping stability and certainty within the goalkeeping department would be an excellent start for the Rams, and whilst it looks like a difficult task to keep Lawrence, these comments show the intent that the club have. 

It will be interesting to see how Forysth's situation plays out, with the Rams perhaps looking to tackle the third-tier in a different kind of manner.