Derby County’s £5.8m signing has already given John Eustace a huge selection headache

Add as preferred source on Google

Derby County are off the mark in the Championship in the win category this season, with their dramatic 1-0 victory over West Brom at the weekend moving them up to 19th.

Andreas Weimann, who has unfinished business with the Rams, found the back of the net in the 84th minute against a Baggies side who huffed and puffed but ultimately could not breach the away side’s defence.

It was an extremely important moment for John Eustace, whose side came close to their first league win just before the international break, denied only by a 106th minute penalty from Jack Clarke in a 2-2 draw away at Ipswich Town.

Nevertheless, the victory for Derby was poignant for more than one reason, as Patrick Agyemang got his first minutes for the club, and he has already forced himself into the conversation for this weekend’s clash at Pride Park with Preston North End.

• READ MORE – EFL expert makes bold Chris Wilder claim following Sheffield United return despite ‘unlucky’ play-off loss

Patrick Agyemang will be hoping for his first Derby County start vs Preston

Agyemang arrived at Pride Park for £5.8m from Charlotte FC in the summer transfer window, although the American was unable to feature until the weekend due to a hernia issue that required surgery.

However, he is now back fit, and he got his chance to shine against West Brom. It was his physicality and ingenuity that saw him head Lewis Travis’ whipped cross into the path of Weimann, who finished with confidence.

Carlton Morris has led the line throughout the first few weeks of the campaign, but he has done this alone and having the support of Agyemang throughout the rest of the season will help – starting against Preston.

With Rhian Brewster out injured, Eustace may turn to his multi-million pound striker to be that second talisman, although there will also be a desire to ease him into the starting XI at Derby slowly.

• READ MORE – Championship score predictions for gameweek 6 as Norwich City run riot and Chris Wilder fixes Blades

Does Patrick Agyemang’s return to fitness mean a formation change is needed?

So far this season, Eustace has stuck to a variation of a 3-5-2 formation and a 3-4-2-1, playing Morris as the number nine. Corey Blackett-Taylor’s injury saw the use of wingers become more difficult, and now there will be questions as to whether he fits straight into the team.

Derby have three very good strikers at their disposal, with Lars-Jorgen Salvesen also fighting for his place in the team, but considering Agyemang’s price tag, it seems likely that he will be more of a focus over the Norwegian.

Therefore, Eustace does have the chance to play with that two striker system that we have seen used by him with the Rams in the past, and combining Morris with the USA international could be a recipe for success at Pride Park.

However, the question would be: why fix something that is not broken? Derby have not lost any of their games while playing a 3-4-2-1 and bringing Agyemang on in the latter stages against Preston does give him more chance to be an effective impact sub once again.