The arrival of England's all-time top-scorer was always going to spark something anew at Derby County, and it largely has. But one forward is yet to reap the same rewards as some.

Phillip Cocu's debut season was petering out into yet another season of mid-table mediocrity for Derby County. In the run-up to New Year his side went on a run of one win in seven in the Championship, and with their final defeat of 2019 - a 3-0 mess at the Madejski - Derby were sitting in 17th-place, seven points above the drop zone.

With how quickly the Championship table changes at either end, Cocu's side could easily have slipped into a relegation dog fight come today. Something had to change and Wayne Rooney's long-awaited introduction seemed more and more like the 'answer' as 2020 drew closer. He was of course in the dugout for a month before making his debut in the 2-1 win over Barnsley, and the five-time Premier League champion has made a stronger impressions since.

The immediate uplift that he brought onto the pitch was phenomenal - Derby lost just one of his first nine games playing for the club, and found new attacking demeanour with some strong performances against Stoke and Swansea in particular. All the likes of Tom Lawrence, Chris Martin and Martyn Waghorn have all upped their game with Rooney playing in-between them, but one has found himself falling further and further behind.

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Jack Marriott is the man in question. The 25-year-old has endured a tough season in what is his second with Derby County - he's just three goals to his name in all competitions, having played 32 times. His 2018 arrival excited a lot of fans. With Peterborough he'd just scored 27 goals in 44 League One appearances and Derby moved quick to earn his signature for the following campaign, and fans were excited to see how he'd fare.

Last season he registered a fair return of ten goals in 36 Championship games, but despite that, there was a lot of expectation on him to really push on this season. Sadly though, Marriott has become a back-up player since the turn of the year. Cocu showed a lot of faith in him throughout the first-half of the season to keep on giving him opportunities, but Marriott just could not capitalise.

Now even with Rooney in the frame, Marriott isn't showing much signs of improvement - not the signs of improvement you'd want to see from a striker who's training with one of the Premier League's greatest ever goal-scorers. Marriott's only started once in the league since New Year and now with his fellow strikers becoming more prolific, Marriott is only falling further down the pecking order, and his time at the club could quickly come into question.

At 25-years-old, there's still plenty enough time to become the Derby player that fans want and know he can be. But questions have to be asked when most - if not the whole - squad has improved significantly since January. Cocu will need to see something more from Marriott for him to remain in contention.