Five lower league players that could improve the Derby County squad

The Rams have had a rollercoaster season and finished ninth in the Championship.

Expectation was high but the club yet again failed to this expectation.

Some Rams fans believe that this squad isn’t good enough and expect a huge turnover of players in this summer’s transfer window to climb the table and potentially win promotion next season.

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Here are five players who could improve the current Derby squad.

Josh Morris

Team – Scunthorpe United

Age – 25

Goals this season – 19

Assists this season – 17

Position – left wing

Derby struggled to score goals last season.

Tom Ince and Darren Bent were top goal scorers with 15 goals coming from Tom Ince on the right hand side of a front three while Darren Bent has been in and out of the squad but managed 13 goals himself.

The Rams have only scored five goals from the left hand side from players such as Andreas Weimann with two, (loaned out to Wolves and could well be on his way out after a reported £1.5 million pound bid from the West Midlands club), Johnny Russell with two and Ikechi Anya with one goal.

The left hand side has been a problem area for the three Rams managers who have been in charge this season.

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Josh Morris could be the answer with the tremendous season he has had.

He has either scored or assisted in 36 goals for Scunthorpe this season and just saw the club lose out to Millwall in the play-off semi-final.

The player signed on a free transfer from Bradford City last summer.

With two years left on his contract, the winger could cost the Rams £3 million to £4 million.

Ollie Watkins

Team – Exeter City

Age – 21

Goals this season – 13

Assists this season – 7

Position – striker

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Reportedly there are many destinations for the youngster to choose to play his football next season, with a host of Championship clubs interested in the striker.

In January this year, it was reported that Arsenal and Manchester United were looking at the youngster.

In March the striker said: “The aim is to do something like Matt Grimes has done, play 50-odd League games and move on to a bigger club.”

Grimes, who also came through the Exeter academy, left Exeter City for Swansea back in 2015 for a reported £1.75 million.

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So far Watkins had made 66 first team appearances for Exeter.

He is his known for his pace, power and finishing - could he be what Derby are looking for?

Marcus Maddison

Team – Peterborough United

Age – 23

Goals this season – 9

Assists this season – 17

Position: winger/attacking midfielder

The versatile attacking midfielder signed for a club record fee for Gateshead at a reported £250,000 with a potential to rise to £500,000.

His former Gateshead manager spoke highly of the player.

Gary Mills said: “He has an unbelievable talent, he wants to score goals and can score goals with his magical left foot.

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“On the other side, he works hard. Marcus was a selfish lad when I first came to the football club and now he is a match winner and a team player.”

The 23-year-old can play across the midfield, but could also be Derby’s answer to their left wing problems.

Maddison is also a free-kick specialist and has a very orthodox technique to striking the free-kick.

With a year left on his contract he could cost around £2 million to £3 million pounds.

Omar Bogle

Team – Wigan Athletic

Age – 24

Goals this season – 22 (Grimsby and Wigan)

Assists this season – 5 (Grimsby and Wigan)

Position – striker

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The Rams were linked with Bogle in the January transfer window, but the 24-year-old moved to Wigan Athletic in their hopes to stay in the Championship.

He signed for the Latics on a two-and-a-half-year deal, for an undisclosed fee which was a reported £750,000 which could rise to £1 million.

Bogle was on fire in the first half of the season at League Two side Grimsby Town, scoring 19 goals for the Mariners.

But after he signed for Wigan, the 6ft 4ins striker, has scored just three goals in 12 appearances.

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Now the Latics have been relegated, would the striker be looking for a move back to the Championship?

Bogle would cost around the £1.2-million-pound mark as Wigan would want to make money from the striker.

Charlie Mulgrew

Team – Blackburn Rovers

Age – 31

Goals this season – 3

Assists this season – 1

Position – Center back

Following Blackburn’s relegation to League One, the Lancashire club could well be looking to offload players to reduce the wage bill.

The experienced centre back joined Blackburn on a free transfer last summer from Celtic.

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The Scotland international has made 25 League appearances for Rovers this season.

Many Derby fans have suggested that the current back line is not strong enough to maintain a promotion winning squad.

Could Mulgrew’s experience winning title’s at Celtic be the help that the Rams need?

Mulgrew has also made 26 appearances for the Scotland side.

The 6ft 2ins defender signed a three year contract at Blackburn so still has two years left at the club. Mulgrew would cost the Rams around £1.5million to £2 million.

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