Riggott Trains With Rams

Chris Riggott has been handed the opportunity to impress Nigel Clough and prove his fitness with the news that he is currently training with The Rams after being released by Cardiff City at the end of last season.

Former Pride Park favourite Riggott started his career at Derby making just short of one hundred appearances before moving on to Middlesbrough where he was signed by Steve McClaren during his time in charge. Riggott made just over a hundred appearances during his spell at the Riverside Stadium but gradually fell down the pecking order when the club brought in Jonathan Woodgate, Robert Huth and Emmanuel Pogatetz and he did not feature on a regular basis during Gareth Southgate`s reign.

Injuries did not help and when his contract came up for renewal in 2010 he decided it was time to move on. Having reportedly trained with Derby at the start of last season he eventually signed a short-term deal with Cardiff City but made only two appearances in their unsuccessful promotion attempts and has now found himself looking for a new club again after being released. Nigel Clough confirmed that Riggott was training with club with a view to a possible deal and told the Derby Evening Telegraph:

'He's going to come and do pre-season with us and what we've said is that if he can prove himself over the next five or six weeks, then we'd love to have him around for the season. He had an operation around the end of last season and we hope that will cure the problem that has dogged him for the past couple of years."

'It will all be down to his back - that is what has kept him out and restricted him playing so much. If we can find a solution to that, there is no reason at all why he can't get back to playing at this level. It's not as if he's 34 or 35. He's a couple of weeks behind but has been working over most of the summer, so some of the slog of pre-season, he will be doing. But we will get him involved in games as soon as we can.'

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