Rams hopeful over quartet

Derby boss Nigel Clough is hopeful of getting Jake Buxton, Paul Green, Gareth Roberts and Jamie Ward tied up to new deals.

Clough eyes new deals for Buxton, Green, Roberts and Ward

Derby boss Nigel Clough is hopeful of getting Jake Buxton, Paul Green, Gareth Roberts and Jamie Ward tied up to new deals soon. Buxton, Green and Roberts are currently on contracts which expire at the end of the season, while Ward's deal runs to next summer with the option of a further year. Clough says Green, who has started 24 of the last 25 games since returning from a serious knee injury, wants to stay with the Rams. He told the Derby Telegraph: "Talks are ongoing with several players. We are trying to get them all tied up by the end of next week. "We have had preliminary chats with Paul Green and we will get down to it after the weekend, hopefully, in a bit more detail.

Sorted

"Both parties have agreed that if it is going to get sorted, it will be by the end of this month. "We want it doing before the end of the season, if it is going to be done. "Can we match Paul's aspirations? We are going to try. "We want to keep him and he wants to stay, so you have got common ground straight away." Clough said the club were "very close" to agreeing new deals with left-back Roberts, who has missed just one game since September, and fellow defender Buxton, while talks with striker Ward are about a contract extension, which the Derby boss believes he fully deserves. "When Jamie signed we said 'if you do well, then we will reward you', and that is all we are doing, keeping that promise," said Clough. "I don't think anyone can argue that he deserves it."