Clough: Options Available

Nigel Clough thinks that his Derby County side have enough options to cover the absence of Jake Buxton who is predicted to be out of action for two months with medial ligament damage.

Buxton picked the injury up in the victory against Leeds United and was replaced by Mark O`Brien at the weekend who himself made his first start in just over a year following a cruciate ligament injury. Derby`s young squad had already had to deal with the loss of skipper Shaun Barker for the entire season and Buxton had just started to establish himself as first choice alongside Richard Keogh at the heart of their defence until injury struck again. Talking to dcfc.co.uk about the loss of Buxton and the options available Clough said:

"It`s not ideal losing Jake but we have Jimmy O`Connor and Mark O`Brien who are good defenders. Jimmy has filled in at centre-back a few times this season and Mark has been building his fitness up over the last few months and did well coming off the bench against Leeds, so it`s nice that we actually have options. That`s a credit to squad really that we have a team below the team, which is something we`ve strived to implement for the last few years."

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