Jewell eyes new faces

Derby hope to be "very busy" during the transfer window

Last updated: 28th December 2007

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New Derby boss Paul Jewell is looking forward to the January transfer window as injuries ravage a squad already short of quality.

Shoulder injuries mean the rock-bottom Rams could be without first-choice goalkeeper Stephen Bywater and Stephen Pearson when they entertain Blackburn at Pride Park on Sunday.

Striker Robert Earnshaw picked up a calf strain in the 2-1 Boxing Day defeat to Liverpool, while Claude Davis, Matt Oakley, Andy Todd and David Jones are also probably missing.

The injuries mean, for Jewell, that January can not come soon enough.

"The injuries have piled up. Pearson, Bywater, Earnshaw - we really are stretched to the limits.

"I wish it was January already, we need to bring people in," said Jewell, who may again hand a start to Wales goalkeeper Lewis Price for the Blackburn game after he made a pleasing debut against Liverpool.

Busy

Derby chairman Adam Pearson has confirmed the Rams hope to be "very busy" in the transfer window.

"The transfer window opens in under a week, and the manager and I hope to be very busy through the month of January," he said.

"We are looking to freshen up the squad and perhaps bring in two or three players from outside the UK. Paul and I met last week to start the process, and we hope to have some new faces early in the New Year.

"At this stage we will be trading in the window, so one or two players may also be on the move out of Pride Park if the right opportunities arrive for player and club," said Pearson, although the club have denied that in-demand Giles Barnes could be sold to West Ham to help finance new faces.

Repeat

Meanwhile, Jewell is looking for a repeat performance of the second-half display against Liverpool from his players when they play Blackburn on Sunday.

He said: "We have to get into peoples' faces; otherwise we will be really embarrassed.

"We made Liverpool fight harder, and that is what we must continue to produce.

"I am a realist. This will be very difficult. But there are things we must do to give ourselves a chance, and that is application and effort.

"I live in the real world. We have not been good enough in too many games, and that is why we are bottom of the league. It is not poor refereeing decisions, but what we are doing.

"We have to show effort. The first half was unacceptable, but the second half was bang on - and the supporters appreciated that. The attitude was right, and the supporters embraced that."