"He’s just majorly underperformed" - Surprise claim made on Derby County player after Ipswich Town release | OneFootball

The Rams winger has found life at Pride Park extremely difficult since joining for free in the summer.

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 moved to the bottom of the Championship table for the first time this season on Saturday following a 1-0 defeat to Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium.

The Rams' loss and Luton Town's first win under Matt Bloomfield sent John Eustace's side to the foot of the second tier, after losing three straight league games, picking up just two points in their last 12 matches.

It's been a frustrating season for the East Midlands outfit, and it currently looks as though the team will suffer relegation straight back to League One unless there is a radical change in form, starting against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

Eustace will be hoping that he can get one over his former team after leaving them for Derby just a few weeks ago, but he will need his players to show more endeavour and quality to help get him that first win in charge.

Kayden Jackson named in Derby player debate

Supporters were told by CEO, Stephen Pearce, in March 2024 that the club would have a budget that was going to let them compete in the Championship this season, but those that have arrived in DE24 over the course of the campaign have failed to impress for the most part.

Goals have been hard to come by and the Rams have lacked a cutting edge constantly in the final third, something that will cost them their second tier status if they do not find a fix in their remaining 11 games.

Football League World has asked their Derby Fan Pundit, Shaun Woodward, which one player has surprised him most this season, either positively or negatively.

He told FLW: "I could probably sit here and talk for ages about sadly the players that have surprised me in a negative way this season, so many of them have underperformed. None of them have reached the heights that we thought they would do.

"The likes of Ben Osborn coming in, major flop. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing this season, his stats are just horrific from where they were last year. We could probably go through most of our frontline if I'm honest and just say none of them have performed to a level that we need to stay in this league.

"But for me, the one I would probably highlight is Kayden Jackson. He came in and he started the season really well. I think he's got three goals in his first five games in all competitions and since then I don't know what's happened to the boy, but it's like he has just fallen off a cliff with his form and his confidence.

"Everything he was doing in the first five games he has stopped doing. He's not positive, he doesn't try and beat a man, he doesn't look to get a shot off. Everything that he did in his first five games, he stopped doing for whatever reason."

Shaun continued: "I know the team has been struggling, but he has not rolled his sleeves up and really tried to pull us out of this mess. I think he's got one goal in his last 30 odd games, which is just woeful for a player that's supposed to be one of our attacking stars. He’s just majorly underperformed.

"He looks like he's nowhere near the levels we need in the Championship, and I think it is highlighted even more because he had a good start. He’s shown nothing since. People were talking about him potentially going on to get 15/20 goals this season, which is laughable now when you think about it.

"I think he’s got four in all competitions, and three of those came at the beginning. So I’ve been really, really disappointed with Jackson. I don't really want to just pick him out because I think a number of them have majorly underperformed.

"But sadly, I've got to pick one and he's probably the one that stands out for me above all the others."

Jackson's form has been notably poor for Derby

While there are a number of players that have not pulled their weight for the Rams this season, Jackson has been particularly disappointing, especially after his explosive start to life in black-and-white.

A header against Luton in December was the winger's most recent goal for Derby, and he has not looked a threat since then.

He has been played on the wing, up front and as a wing-back, with neither Paul Warne nor Eustace being able to work out which position he is best suited to.

His record at Ipswich Town in the Championship and in his final three League One seasons was not impressive, and this lack of threat in front of goal has followed him to the East Midlands with no end in sight to this new drought.

If the Rams do not see an improvement from Jackson before the end of the campaign, then he may just find himself as another on their way out of Pride Park in what looks to be a huge summer rebuild at Derby.