Derby County manager Wayne Rooney has singled out Colin Kazim-Richards and Krystian Bielik as two ‘perfect examples’ to the squad.
Rooney has won over a lot of fans since taking interim charge of Derby County last year. He’s now the club’s permanent manager and continues to put points on the board, dragging Derby County to safety.
His side have won six of their last eight in the Championship and now find themselves in 18th-place of the table.
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It’s been a formidable turnaround from Rooney’s side and one player has stood out, becoming a cult hero in the process; Kazim-Richards. He was largely written off before he ever played a game for Derby County, but he’s scored six important Championship goals so far this season.
The Athletic’s Ryan Conway spoke to Rooney ahead of his side’s Championship clash with Nottingham Forest tomorrow night, and the Rams boss said of Kazim-Richards:
Rooney says perfect examples to the squad are CKR & Bielik: "Colin, in my first game, I left out of the matchday squad and I told him his training needed to be better. You seen the reaction he's given. Krystian was the same. I felt he could train better."
— Ryan Conway (@RJConway92) February 25, 2021
Bielik is another name who’s become a hugely important member of the team this season. But the Pole has been dealt another unfortunate ACL injury and looks set to spent several months on the sidelines.
Having just come back from a similar injury, Bielik managed 13 Championship performances for Derby County this season and scored twice.
In the aftermath of his injury, Derby County looks slightly lost in midfield but they’ve managed to plug the gap.
Nevertheless, his absence will be sorely missed in Derby County’s bid for Championship survival, and the 23-year-old faces an even greater task in recovering from a second ACL injury.