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STATS: How are Derby's Irish contingent faring?

From a personal perspective, there are a clutch of teams in England's lower leagues that I would ...



STATS: How are Derby's Iri...
Soccer

STATS: How are Derby's Irish contingent faring?

From a personal perspective, there are a clutch of teams in England's lower leagues that I would love to see back in the Premier League.

Based on their history and traditions, clubs like Nottingham Forest and Leeds United would add something to the top flight, added to the fact that anyone who grew up in the '90s would have been used to seeing those teams perennially occupying fixture lists.

This season though, it would be great to see Steve McClaren's Derby going up.

But why the Rams? Mainly because of their sizeable Irish contingent.

With Irish players finding it harder to populate the Premier League, Derby would expose another group of players to the higher quality Premier League.

Currently six players are on the books. Ireland internationals Jeff Hendrick, Richard Keogh and newly-capped full-back Cyrus Christie are contracted permanently, while seven-cap Leon Best is on loan from Blackburn Rovers.

Conor Sammon and defender Mark O'Brien are also registered with Derby, although they are currently loaned to Ipswich and Motherwell respectively.

Tonight Derby face Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the Capital One Cup. They may be massive underdogs, but how are their Irish players performing this season?

Let's focus on three players who have realistic Ireland ambitions or already figure in Martin O'Neill's plans.

Jeff Hendrick 

Midfielder Hendrick is establishing himself for the Boys in Green with 10 caps and a competitive start against Scotland to his name.

Goals from midfield have been part of his game this season. He has three from 17 Championship matches, with one coming from outside the box in a 5-0 taming of Wolves. A shooting accuracy of over 50 per cent also reads well. What also reads well is another couple of League Cup goals against Carlisle and Fulham.

His creativity from central zones has been apparent with three assists. His pass completion rate of 85 per cent is solid, if not impressive, and an average pass length of 17 metres shows a focus towards shorter passing. 

That is important for a Derby side which has the highest rate of possession in the Championship this season and the best passing accuracy.

A Squawka graphic of Hendrick's league goals

 

Richard Keogh

The centre-half was one of the players to come out with some credit after the disappointing 1 - 0 defeat to Scotland in the Euro 2016 qualifiers.

A fixture in the Derby side, he has managed 19 starts from the 20 Championship games he has already been involved in so far.

The Rams vice-captain has a strong distribution rate of 90 per cent and more significantly, has won 61 per cent of the aerial challenges he has been involved in.

Keogh has also made no defensive errors according to Squawka, while he is rarely dribbled past and commits relatively few fouls. There are only three yellow cards to his name this campaign.

 

Cyrus Christie ©INPHO/Donall Farmer

Cyrus Christie

The full-back only became eligible recently, earning his first cap in the 4-1 friendly win over USA where he acquitted himself well.

The 22-year-old has started in 20 of Derby's 21 games in his first season since joining from hometown club Coventry.

From his right-back berth he has racked up an impressive five assists and 28 chances created and has come out on top in over 50 per cent of his tackle and headed duels.

His assist total is actually among the Top 10 for Championship players this season. 

For more stats, visit Squawka.com

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