‘Ruthlessness’ – Derby County Lacking Admits Former Rams Star | OneFootball

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Former Derby County star Martyn Waghorn is of the view that the Rams are lacking ruthlessness in their game and feels Carlton Morris’ return in the forward department is a big plus as a result.

The Pride Park outfit have managed to win only one game in the Championship so far and they are sitting in the relegation zone at the moment.

Despite a slow start to the season, last week, David Ozoh urged fans to remain calm as he believes that the time to hit the panic button has not arrived yet.

Derby hosted Birmingham City, who Rams boss John Eustace claimed ahead of the game that are a team that know the Championship inside out, at home on Saturday and suffered a 2-1 defeat despite taking the lead with Bobby Clark’s goal in the first half.

The game saw centre forward Morris return after he missed the last four league games due to a muscle injury and he played the full 90 minutes for them and played a part in Clark’s goal.

Waghorn is of the view that Morris’s return is a massive bonus for the Rams, as he offers something on and off the ball, which was displayed in the build up in Derby’s goal against Birmingham.

He admitted that Eustace’s side are looking vulnerable while defending and believes that despite carrying threats going forward, they lack ruthlessness at both ends of the pitch.

“Defensively, we are vulnerable at the minute, but going forward, I thought we looked like a threat”, Waghorn said on The Derby Debrief (2:32).

“Carlton for me personally, [his] comeback was a massive bonus in terms of what he added going forward.

“And off the ball, his positioning and awareness to pick up second ball for the goal was brilliant.

“But again, lapses in concentration and what we spoke about ruthlessness, I feel like we are missing at both ends of the pitch.”

Derby signed 30-year-old Morris from Luton Town in the summer of 2025 and the player netted 12 goals while laying on two assists in 31 league games in his debut season with the Rams.

He has already made two goal contributions this season and Eustace will be hoping that the experienced forward will be able to inspire the team to get back to winning ways in the upcoming games.

Derby are set to play Burnley next weekend before going into the international break and Eustace will be keen to turn their season around soon with pressure building on him.