Derby County will be on red alert after new scare - even Patrick Agyemang can’t fill the void | OneFootball

An injury to striker Carlton Morris may cause the Derby County manager John Eustace a headache, and not just because he'll miss the goals he provides.

Derby County have suffered a fresh injury scare following the withdrawal of joint-top scorer Carlton Morris early in their Championship match against Watford, and his goalscoring contribution won't be the only thing they'll miss while he's out.

Following five straight wins which lifted the Rams from what looked like it might be a relegation battle to a push towards the play-offs, there's little question that Derby's home match against Watford at Pride Park on Saturday will have been a huge disappointment for the manager John Eustace.

Not only did they lose 3-2 after having taken a two-goal lead, with two late goals from Edo Kayembe snatching the points for the Hornets, but they also lost striker Carlton Morris to a knee injury after just 18 minutes - and that injury could be serious.

Considering that Morris is the joint top goalscorer in the division alongside Brandon Thomas-Asante of Coventry City, a lengthy period of absence for the striker would be a big loss for Eustace.

Carlton Morris injury capped a bad day at the office for John Eustace and Derby County

The score was still goalless at Pride Park when Carlton Morris was forced off with a knee injury for Derby County and replaced by Andreas Weimann after 18 minutes of their match against Watford.

At first, it didn't seem to make that much of a difference to the Rams, with goals nine minutes either side of half-time from defenders Dion Sanderson and Sondre Langas - in both cases their first for the club - gave Derby a solid looking 2-0 lead.

But Watford's comeback resulted in a 3-2 win for the visitors, dropping Derby to 12th place in the table by the end of Saturday's action.

And speaking to BBC Radio Derby after the match, John Eustace said that he feared the worst for his striker. "It looks pretty bad," Eustace told them.

"For the big man to come off it's got to be bad. At first glance it doesn't look bad so he'll get assessed tomorrow by the medical team and we'll take it from there."

Since his move from relegated Luton Town in the summer, Morris has plundered in 10 Championship goals for the Rams, and if he's out for any period of time - especially at a time of fixture congestion - then it will not just be his goalscoring instincts that will be missed.

Goals won't be the only thing that Derby will miss if Carlton Morris does become a long-term absentee

As the Championship's joint-top goalscorer with 10 goals, there's little question that Derby County will miss Carlton Morris's goals if he does turn out to be a long-term absentee for them as a result of this injury.

But Morris offers more than goals alone to Derby County. His physical presence in attacking positions is valuable to them, and his link-up play has helped to create chances and goals for them from elsewhere.

All of this could place further responsibility onto the shoulders of Patrick Agyemang, who has also contributed two goals and two assists this season from his twelve appearances - nine of which have been starts - and who scored the other goal in their recent 2-1 win at Blackburn Rovers.

But while Agyemang does offer physical presence up front for Derby, he's not offered anything like the same return as Morris in front of goal and his link-up play hasn't been at the same level either, so filling the very specific gap that Morris has offered so far this season won't be easy for Eustace.

That is not writing Agyemang off of course so early into his Derby career, as it's going to take time for him to bed in in England, but there's likely going to be a different approach needed at the top end of the pitch if Morris isn't going to be playing for the foreseeable future.

Norwegian striker Lars-Jørgen Salvesen may get his chance now too having recovered from a knee injury not long after arriving from Viking, and he may be more in the Morris mould in that he'll be able to hold the ball up and bring others into play, but you'd still imagine he lacks the quality that the now injured centre-forward possesses.

It's not known at present how long Morris might be out of the Derby team, but the fixtures keep on coming, with potentially tricky trips to Swansea City and Middlesbrough before the end of November, before the Rams start December with home matches against Leicester City and Millwall.