Derby County can profit from ex-Luton Town star after Patrick Agyemang update | OneFootball

Derby's promotion hopes may have taken a hit with Patrick Agyemang's injury news, but they may not be over if Carlton Morris returns to his best

Patrick Agyemang's season is over, which is a massive blow to Derby County's play-off hopes going into the final few games of the campaign.

The Rams announced that the 25-year-old suffered a "serious" Achilles tendon injury in their latest win against Stoke City, which saw him withdrawn on a stretcher just minutes out from half-time.

It's a real gutwrenching injury to someone who was on track to make the United States National Team squad for the upcoming home World Cup. Not only has it prematurely ended his debut campaign in England, but it's also scuppered any summer plans to represent his nation on the biggest stage in world football.

For Derby, who sit within touching distance of the top six, the absence of their star striker may put paid to any late play-off surges. However, in Agyemang's absence in the remainder of the Stoke win, there was a return to the scoresheet for Carlton Morris.

If the former Luton Town man can rediscover some of the form he was exhibiting earlier in the campaign, while his strike partner has to watch on from the sidelines, perhaps he could be experiencing more Wembley glory come the end of May.

Carlton Morris scored his first goal since his long ankle injury on Easter Monday

Unfortunately, Agyemang isn't the only Derby striker who has been struck down with a long-term injury in the midst of a great run, as Morris was feeling rejuvenated at his new club before an ankle injury forced him out in November.

Before then, the 30-year-old was starting to exhibit that incredible goalscoring record that got his Luton side up into the Premier League back in 2023. He netted in his first four games and would make it 10 in 17 before he was forced off inside 18 minutes in a 3-2 defeat against Watford.

At that time, he was the Championship's top scorer, but a near-three-month lay-off, in which he missed 15 league games, saw him fall behind in those charts, while Agyemang, who had scored just two in 12 before the Morris injury, started to blossom into one of the better strikers in the division.

The American had raised the bar so much that, while Morris has been back for close to two months now, the Easter Weekend's fixtures were just the second and third Championship games that he'd started in that time. His late goal against Stoke to seal the 2-0 win was his first since November 8, when he netted in a win at Blackburn Rovers.

Carlton Morris has to rediscover his goalscoring touch to maintain Derby County's play-off hopes

The goal against the Potters was close to five months in the making, and it could be the catalyst for Morris to return to his pre-injury goalscoring form. He must do so now, though, given that Agyemang has been ruled out for the remainder of the campaign.

The 30-year-old will likely be the focal point of the attack now that the American is out, so John Eustace's side will be leaning on him to help them over the line and possibly gatecrash the top-six party.

Arguably, there isn't a better man to lead that charge than Morris, though. In the final six games of the 2022/23 campaign, when he led the line for Luton en route to Premier League promotion, he netted four times and provided a further two assists to help the Hatters maintain their place inside the top three.

The goal now is slightly different, as Derby are looking to climb in, while Nathan Jones' side were focused on remaining in the play-offs, but Morris' form when it matters most is something that Rams fans will be hoping he can replicate three years on.

Derby have a massive game coming up at St Mary's against Southampton this coming Saturday, one of the sides vying with the Rams in this tussle for the top six, and if John Eustace's side can prevail, their play-off hopes will be bolstered tenfold.

It may be difficult without Agyemang, but if Morris can shoulder the load, as he did on Easter Monday against Stoke, the Rams could be in with a legitimate shout of taking this top six race right down to the wire.