Derby County reportedly wanted to raid Championship rivals Ipswich Town for Pennington, who is on loan from Premier League outfit Everton.
Frank Lampard has admitted that he wanted to bring a new centre-back to Derby County in the January transfer window with Matthew Pennington one of his targets.
The Rams are a little short in defence right now with Richard Keogh starting every one of their 29 Championship games and Fikayo Tomori missing just three fixtures since joining on loan from Chelsea.
Alex Pearce departed for Millwall last month, meaning there is a lack of options in reserve.
And, speaking to the Derby Telegraph, Lampard has admitted that he wanted to sign Everton academy graduate Pennington on deadline day, only to find that there was not enough time to get the deal done.
“He was one we looked at later on – but it was too late,” said Lampard.
“Matthew Pennington was an Ipswich player and they were well within their rights to keep him. Fair enough.”
The Pennington deal would have been a tricky one given that he is currently on loan at another Championship outfit, bottom of the table Ipswich Town.
Everton would need to cancel his season-long deal at Portman Road before coming to an agreement with Derby, all before the 11pm deadline.
So Lampard will have to make do with the options at his disposal and hope both Keogh and Tomori avoid injuries or suspensions between now and May.
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