Derby County have been told to improve one area of their defeat to Blackburn Rovers.
Paul Warne did not enjoy a great debut game in the Championship with the Rams on Friday evening.
Derby County are predicted to finish in the bottom half of the table in 2024/25 and after their showing last week, the threat of a swift relegation back down to League One is looming.
Blackburn finished 19th in the second division last term and after an underwhelming summer transfer window so far, looked to present an ‘easy’ opening fixture for the Rams.
However, things did not go to plan for the newly-promoted side as Derby lost 4-2 to Blackburn in their season opener.
A number of the Derbyshire outfit’s first-team players struggled last weekend, with Eiran Cashin coming in for heavy criticism against Blackburn.
There were some positives to come out of the match for Warne and his team, though.
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Paul Warne sent Derby County transfer warning
Ben Osborn was praised by Paul Heckingbottom, who previously worked with the midfielder at Sheffield United.
Elsewhere, another summer addition was given a positive review with Curtis Davies backing David Ozoh to impress for Derby.
One of the only proper bright sparks in Derby’s defeat to Blackburn, though, was Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.
The winger provided assists for both of the Rams’ goals on Friday and has since been praised by George Smith, speaking on the Championship Chat podcast.
However, Smith also sent a transfer warning to Warne, stating that while Mendez-Laing performed well, Derby cannot rely on him alone.
He said: “You’ve got to question if this Derby team has got the credentials to compete at this level as it is at the moment. Obviously, both goals came via crosses into the box from set plays with Mendez-Laing the architect for both of them.
“We know Nathaniel Mendez-Laing’s got that little bit of X Factor about him but you need more than just him, that’s the trouble.
“Paul Warne will be of the opinion that it’s obviously a really bad start but it can only get better.
“Having said that, I don’t mean this with any sort of disrespect to Blackburn, you would have looked at that Blackburn team on the opening night and thought you’re probably going to face a lot tougher tests than this.
“So if you’ve conceded four to that team, Derby are going to face to face sterner tests than that. So it’s not a great start but it can only get better.”
Who are Derby County trying to sign
Derby have already brought two new centre-forwards to the club this summer in Jerry Yates and Kayden Jackson.
But neither player is a prolific goalscorer and Smith’s comments highlight the need for the Rams to further strengthen their attack before deadline day.
Luton Town striker Cauley Woodrow is of interest to Derby but the Hatters will not let him go until they themselves bring in another attacker.
Elsewhere, Warne faces competition for Bobby Clarke of Liverpool, with Red Bull Salzburg looking to sign the Liverpool youngster on a permanent deal.
Karamoko Dembele was also linked to Derby recently, but Queens Park Rangers confirmed his signing on August 13th.
In turn, the Rams look set to go into their meeting with Middlesbrough this weekend still lacking any real attacking threat.
And with Boro expected to test Derby a lot more than Blackburn, it could be another heavy defeat for the club.