It's safe to say that Derby County haven't had the best of preparations heading into the new Championship season this summer, under the watchful eye of Wayne Rooney. 

The Rams narrowly avoided relegation into League One on the final day of the 2020/21 season, and the club's supporters would have been eager to see them make a positive start to the new campaign.

However, Derby's threadbare squad will have it all to do early on, with the EFL only recently allowing the Rams to sign up to five free-agents, as they look to add much-needed depth to their senior squad.

Derbyshire Live has recently reported that there aren't any concerns at the club over their cash flow, as well as players' wages being paid at this stage.

The Rams had previously paid their players late in previous months due to uncertainty over the club's takeover situation at the time.

Derby County chief executive Stephen Pearce has previously admitted earlier this month that the club are 'still working tirelessly on the ownership model with multiple parties'.

The Sun journalist Alan Nixon revealed on July 25th that there was 'no progress' on the takeover news surrounding Derby County, which is far from ideal, as you would have imagined that the club's supporters would have been keen to see that resolved before the new Championship campaign got underway in August.

An American-based group were previously interested in taking over at Pride Park, but any dialogue between both parties seems to have gone quiet in recent weeks.

The Rams have already seen two bids for the club fall through during last year's campaign, and they won't be wanting history to repeat itself for a third time this term.

Wayne Rooney's side will be hoping they can make a positive start to the new season, when they take on Huddersfield Town, in what could potentially be a tricky test for the Rams with a weakened squad.