"Nobody has a clue" - Derby County urged to let go of player who is "nowhere to be seen" | OneFootball

The striker has not featured at all this season, and time is surely running out for him at Pride Park.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Derby County's injury situation is extremely bleak, and it is an issue that has featured heavily over the course of the 2024/25 season.

The Rams have just one striker currently fit and firing, with Jerry Yates continuing to lead the line while Kemar Roofe and Lars-Jorgen Salvesen are forced to sit out with fitness issues.

The Norwegian forward, Salvesen, was brought in during the January transfer window for a reported £800k from Viking FK, but after a bright start, he suffered a knee injury in training and will miss the rest of the campaign.

Roofe, who arrived in recent weeks as a free agent, has a hamstring problem and will be out until April, leaving John Eustace with just the one senior option up front. However, there are serious questions over the availability of another striker who has not been on the pitch for Derby since the 2023/24 campaign.

Verdict made on Conor Washington's Derby future

Conor Washington has been a no-show for the majority of this season, making the bench on just a couple of occasions in the opening weeks.

He has spent time with the U21s team, however, neither Paul Warne nor Eustace has been interested in his services for the main squad since the Rams' 2-0 win over QPR in October, when he failed to come off the bench.

Football League World has asked their Derby Fan Pundit, Shaun Woodward, which one player has outstayed their welcome at Pride Park and should be moved on in the summer.

For the Rams supporter, there was only one choice: "I think the one player that's outstayed their welcome at Derby is Conor Washington. He's never been fit, and when he has been fit, he's rarely done anything for the club to make us really want him to stay in the team.

"Nobody even knows what's going on with him. He's never in the match day squad. Nobody knows if he's actually fit or injured. So, he's a confusing one because we've been so depleted of late and we could do some experience in there, even to come off the bench with Lars-Jorgen Salvesen out, Kemar Roofe out and letting James Collins go."

Shaun continued: "We've only got Jerry Yates, so the fact that Washington is still apparently on our books but nowhere to be seen, I think fans have lost their patience with him now.

"Nobody has a clue what's going on. So, I think he's someone that we just need to offload now. I think it's best for both parties."

Washington's time at Derby has been extremely forgetful

The Rams have had major difficulties in the final third this season, and Yates has often been left isolated up front by himself, while at other times he has not quite been as clinical as the team has needed him to be.

Washington has had the perfect opportunity to make a name for himself, especially since Eustace came in, but he has seemingly not impressed on the training pitch and supporters must wonder where he currently is.

He scored just three goals in League One in 2023/24, and the decision should have been made to sell him last summer, but if there was no interest, there was no chance of that happening.

Derby and Washington himself.