AS WE begin the run-up to the busy festive period, there is lots to look forward to.
We sit top of the league, the FA cup third round draw is imminent, we have a Capital One Cup tie against arguably the best team in Europe at the moment in Chelsea and Nottingham Forest tickets are on sale.
Another crucial part of the season on the horizon is the transfer window.
Traditionally, Derby County have been quiet in January regarding transfers but this time around I feel the squad needs additions, not to the squad but to the quality of the first team. What I mean by this is not a Zak Whitbread-type signing that adds some depth to the squad but a player who will come in and improve the first team from day one.
I understand that this type of player does not come cheap and prices are often inflated in January but it does pose an interesting question for the board.
Do they cross their fingers and hope we have enough or do they find the couple of million it may take to secure the quality we need to push on for what we hope will be a successfully campaign?
Whatever the board decide, the nature of football is such that either option is a gamble.
As fans we would do well to remember this if the wheels come off in the new year as we hit the inevitable rough patch somewhere between now and May.
If possible, I would like to see us strengthen in two areas.
I believe we really need a commanding, quality centre-half. I am not harping on about the past but a Jason Shackell type.
A player of his quality and standing would be ideal to shore up what at times has been a soft centre and an area that I feel in recent weeks opposition teams have been targeting.
Any player brought in must be better than what we already have.
The last thing we need is a repeat of the Jay McEveley-type transfers under the woefully insecure Billy Davies the last time we found ourselves in a similar position at the turn of the year.
While Chris Martin has been an outstanding player again this season it would be a problem if he were to be injured and out for any period of time, as he is so pivotal to the way Derby play.
I am not talking about getting a back-up player, I would like to see competition that I feel Leon Best is currently unable to give.
The price of forwards in the championship who score as many goals as Martin, such as Jordan Rhodes and Ross McCormack, may mean we have to look overseas which only increases the size of the gamble.
We have been linked with Glenn Murray at Reading and I am a huge fan. But at 31 years old and prices being quoted at £3.5m, this seems to be a long way off our recent policy of investing for the future.
Expensive yes but this is the kind of signing that may just get you over the line at the end of the season.
Looking ahead to today's game, the loss of Kazenga LuaLua for Brighton is a huge boost for the Rams.
LuaLua has been the most creative and dangerous player every time I have seen Brighton play over the last couple of seasons and while injury is not to be celebrated I am pleased he will not be in the Seagulls line-up this weekend.
Darren Bent is an interesting addition to the Brighton team and maybe someone we might have had a look at.
A clean sheet looks beyond us at the moment but overall the quality of the Rams will shine through.
I think Chris Martin will bag a brace and I am going for a 4-1 Rams victory.
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