DERBY County could still sign West Bromwich Albion striker Chris Wood on loan as Rob Hulse completes his protracted move to Queen’s Park Rangers.
The Rams were set to sign the New Zealand international before the transfer deadline but injuries to other Baggies strikers delayed the move.
Now, the 18-year-old, who played in all three games for his country at the World Cup, could arrive on an emergency loan deal.
Derby boss Nigel Clough said: “We got quite a way down the road with West Brom and with Chris as well and we hope that as soon as West Brom’s injuries clear up, we will be able to get him in.
“I think he fits the mould of the younger players we have. He is inexperienced but he has played international football.
“It is a pattern we are trying to follow of young, hungrier players.
“We will get frustrating times like on Saturday when we were two up against Queen’s Park Rangers and when more experienced players might have seen the game out, but the only way to get that experience is by going through it.” If Wood arrives he will provide competition for Chris Porter in the target man position in Derby’s 4-2-3-1 formation after the sale of Hulse to QPR for a fee thought to be £750,000, rising to more than £1 million with clauses.
The move represents good business for the Rams, with Hulse about to turn 31 and in the final year of his contract at Pride Park. He is believed to be the club’s second top earner after Robbie Savage with a wage in excess of £15,000 a week.
Clough said: “Rob has got us goals in the last 18 months, and some very important ones as well, we cannot deny that.
“But we have to look at the overall deal
for the club and ask if it’s the right deal — and we felt it was at this stage.
“We will only do deals we think are right for the club.
Rob had nine months left on his contract and it was unlikely we would have been able to agree a new deal with him, hence the outcome.” The Rams boss is also confident Alberto Bueno, signed on loan from Real Valladolid on deadline day, will make an impact — after revealing the Spaniard, 22, was persuaded to make the move after seeing Derby in action at the weekend.
He said: “By adding Bueno, and with Chris Porter getting fit now, the pressure is off a little bit, but we just need maybe another one in.
“Ideally, we would like somebody else in before our next game but they have to be right and somebody we want to put in the team.
“Bueno, I would say, wasn’t even 50-50 about signing before he came to the game Saturday.
“He just came over to have a look but watched the second half and loved the atmosphere, loved the game, loved Pride Park and told us he wanted to play here.
“It is that sort of character we want to bring in.” WEST Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Scott Carson has been released from the England squad to face Bulgaria in today’s Euro 2012 qualifier because of a family bereavement.
Manager Fabio Capello has called up Watford’s Scott Loach from the under-21 squad as a replacement.
A back injury has also ruled Tottenham Hotspur striker Peter Crouch out of the game at Wembley and the match with Switzerland on Tuesday.
However, on the plus side, defender Phil Jagielka and keeper Ben Foster resumed training yesterday.
Carson, who was making his first appearance in an England squad in two years, could return to the fold ahead of the match against Switzerland in Basle in midweek, but Capello will not call up a replacement for Crouch.
Manchester City’s Joe Hart is Capello’s first-choice goalkeeper, but beyond him and Foster the options are fairly limited, with Paul Robinson having retired from the international stage, former first choice Rob Green awaiting a hip operation and Chris Kirkland dropped by his club Wigan Athletic after conceding 10 goals in the club’s first two league matches.
Loach, who was called up for the friendly win against Hungary on August 11 because of injuries and Robinson’s retirement, had been due to face Portugal for Stuart Pearce’s under-21 side in a vital European Championship qualifying match.
