Derby County duo’s poor Friday performance justifies Lampard’s aim to sign Chelsea’s Ola Aina

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Derby County beat Reading 2-1 on Friday night despite an umimpressive performance. A Chelsea loan deal may now be on the cards.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, Derby County boss Frank Lampard is looking to bring in Chelsea defender Ola Aina on a season-long loan deal.

It’s a deal which makes even more sense following the Rams’ 2-1 opening day victory over Reading – a game where both right-back Andre Wisdom and centre-back Richard Keogh failed to cover themselves in any glory.

Lampard was making his managerial debut and he arguably couldn’t have wished for a happier ending. Tom Lawrence’s 94th minute winner in-front of the Derby supporters prompted wild celebrations from the visitors.

But it wasn’t all plane-sailing for the former Chelsea midfielder. In fact, Derby’s first-half display was wretched to say the least, and two players in particular had a shocking time at the Madejski Stadium

Republic of Ireland international Keogh made two errors to gift Reading key chances within the first 20 minutes, while former Liverpool ace Wisdom was sloppy throughout.

Lampard has set his stall out at Pride Park for Derby to control games with the bulk of possession. At Reading they did that, although at times they were guilty of misplacing passes or simply being too slow on the ball.

In Keogh’s defence he did manage to settle down, posting a pass completion rate of 83.7% while recording four clearances and five aerial duel winners (whoscored). Wisdom, however, managed a pass rate of just 66.7%. The 25-year-old was so laboured in possession, he was often caught out while he seemed to take an age to react to situations. With an inability to get forward, it seems he is wasting a spot out at right-back.

With Derby pressing for the more attack-minded fullback Aina, the Reading display highlighted the need to bring in the young Chelsea star and his inclusion could certainly make Derby a stronger outfit. It would allow Lampard to consider moving Wisdom inside to challenge Keogh for a centre-back spot, while giving his side a more attacking threat with the Blues’ ace Aina naturally more gifted going forward.