Clough to trim the fat at Derby

Nigel Clough will set about trimming down Derby’s squad when he officially begins his job as the Rams' new manager this morning.

Clough, following in the footsteps of his late father Brian who took the club from the old Second Division to become champions of England and European Cup semi-finalists during his spell in charge between May 1967 and October 1973, inherits a first-team squad consisting of 34 players in total.

His predecessor Paul Jewell, who resigned last week after a turbulent 13 months at the Pride Park helm which included relegation from the Premier League with a record low points tally, is largely responsible after bringing 19 players to the club during his tenure.

It may not be an easy task for Clough following Derby’s performance in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final against Manchester United last night.

The 42-year-old, making the step into league management for the first time following a decade at Derby's non-league neighbours Burton Albion, watched the Rams’ 1-0 victory at Pride Park from the stands.

And he would have been delighted with what he saw as the Championship strugglers dominated against the Premier League, European and World Club champions, who struggled to create any clear-cut scoring chances.

The players involved last night will have done their chances of remaining at the club no harm, while everyone else must aim to impress Clough quickly if they are to avoid a January exit.

“We will get down to business on Thursday. I will have a look at the squad and see what we need to do. We are going to try and trim the squad because it has got quite large in number over the last few months,” Clough said.

“It is very difficult to keep that sort of sized squad happy as only 11 can play on a Saturday. It’s horrible when you are a footballer not to be playing on a Saturday afternoon, everybody wants to do that".

Clough hopes to assemble his backroom team as soon as possible. He plans to bring Gary Crosby, Andy Garner and Martin Taylor with him from Burton Albion and hopes the trio could be in place in time for his first league game in charge against Cardiff at Ninian Park on Saturday.