Richard Keogh and Cyrus Christie have significantly improved under Paul Clement at Derby County

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We take a look at why Cyrus Christie and Richard Keogh have impressed for Derby County so far this season.

Although Derby County had a rocky start under Paul Clement, an unbeaten September and a convincing win over Brentford at the weekend put the Rams up to seventh in the Championship – just one point off third place.

Despite the big name signings over the summer, it has largely been the players who were at the club last season who have pulled the Rams out of their rut, most notably Richard Keogh and Cyrus Christie.

The Republic of Ireland internationals, who came under heavy criticism last season, have quickly become integral to Paul Clement’s side and show no signs of letting up.

Despite initially finding himself out of the side at the start of the season, Christie has been able to put himself back firmly in the first-team picture and was even selected over the club’s captain, Chris Baird, for their game against Brentford at the weekend.

As for Keogh, it was a summer of uncertainty for him as he was stripped of the captaincy and linked with moves away, with the Guardian linking Newcastle United with interest.

Nevertheless, despite the heavy competition, Keogh stayed with the Rams and has arguably been the club’s best player so far this season.

Why have Christie and Keogh excelled under Clement?

Although the decision to strip Keogh of the captaincy looked to be detrimental to the defender at first, it has in fact worked out to be a stroke of genius.

Last season, despite not being the main culprit, Keogh was blasted by supporters for his preserved lack of leadership and organization at the back when the club needed it the most.

Now, without the captaincy, he plays with a certain freedom he couldn’t last season and has firmly stolen the thunder away from summer signing Jason Shackell as Derby’s main man at the back.

As for Christie, Clement has been able to do what Steve McClaren struggled with last season and instill confidence back into the young full-back.

After a promising start to last season, Christie had a horrendous dip in form and quickly became one of the main scapegoats for supporters when the club weren’t winning games.

Now, the question is whether he can keep it up for the season and just how far he can improve under Clement’s guidance as he continues to look like a different player.