Could Burnley Define Derby County’s Next Chapter?

Burnley Looms for Troubled Eustace

There’s something painfully familiar about this.

Derby County have started another campaign looking like they’re still waiting for the season to actually begin.

Injuries, players coming in late, players going out late, a squad that looks painfully thin and a manager already finding himself under pressure.

If you’re a Rams fan, you could be forgiven for checking the calendar and wondering whether somebody has accidentally put us back in August 2024.

Except it isn’t August anymore and that’s probably the problem.

After seven Championship games, the East Midlands club sit 22nd with just four points, having won once, drawn once and lost five. They have scored only six goals while conceding 13, leaving them with a goal difference of -7.

The Injury List Keeps Growing

Before we get into the inevitable “Eustace out” debate, though, Derby’s injury list currently resembles the casualty ward at a particularly unfortunate Sunday League tournament.

Rhian Brewster didn’t even start the season after recovering from an injury picked up last campaign, only to later find himself ruled out for another two weeks after entering concussion protocol.

Henrik Meister was stretched off against Birmingham City following a head collision, resulting in a lengthy stoppage. He will now follow concussion protocol and miss at least 12 days.

Craig Forsyth, meanwhile, was enjoying himself against Portsmouth. The 35-year-old was putting in an impressive performance in Derby’s 2-0 victory before a knee injury brought his afternoon to an abrupt end.

Derby County goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterström has withdrawn from the Swedish squad and is expected to be out until mid-November after suffering a knee injury against Birmingham City.

Josh Vickers is expected to step up and take the gloves for the trip to Burnley on Saturday.… pic.twitter.com/VKA3QTfTED

— BBC Sport Derby (@BBCDerbySport) September 16, 2026

Unfortunately, subsequent assessments confirmed the worst, with Forsyth expected to miss at least three to four months.

Then there’s Lewis Travis.

The captain picked up an injury during the 3-0 defeat to Swansea City, was forced off late on and subsequently missed the Portsmouth win.

Thankfully, scans brought slightly better news than initially feared, but three to four weeks on the sidelines is still three to four weeks without one of the most important players in the squad.

Carlton Morris has also missed time with a calf problem suffered against Cardiff, while Filip Bilbija is out with a back injury.

Derry Murkin? Still out. Matt Clarke? Around 12 weeks. Patrick Agyemang? Still working his way back from the achilles injury he suffered in April, and now Derby have another problem between the sticks.

Goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterström has withdrawn from the Sweden squad after suffering a knee injury against Birmingham City and is expected to be sidelined until mid-November.

A piece on Derby County, whose post-trauma era was supposed to be supercharged this summer.

Then the Saudi takeover failed, results have turned and supporters are wondering where this goes next.

⬇️https://t.co/yBa9hj8HZF

— Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) September 17, 2026

Josh Vickers is therefore expected to step up and take the gloves for the trip to Burnley on Saturday, adding yet another change to a Derby side already struggling for consistency and continuity.

At this point, I’m half expecting Derby to announce that the tea lady has pulled a hamstring.

Here’s the thing: injuries are an explanation, not an excuse for everything, and that’s where this becomes more complicated.

Derby’s squad simply doesn’t look equipped to absorb this many absences.

That isn’t entirely on John Eustace. The collapse of the takeover created a ridiculous situation over the summer, disrupting recruitment and preparation while players came and went with the season already underway.

That’s hardly the ideal way to build a football team.

Some new arrivals needed time to adapt to English football, but let’s not pretend every new signing has had the same circumstances.

The wider point is that players such as David Ozoh and Eiran Cashin had barely any pre-season preparation, which has inevitably had an impact on fitness and rhythm. Both made their first starts for the club in the defeat to West Brom.

Then you look at the bench. Fringe players such as Lars-Jørgen Salvesen, alongside players who were sent out on loan last season, such as Corey Blackett-Taylor, are now being asked to step up because, quite simply, there just aren’t enough bodies available.

Travelling to Turf Moor before the break. 🚍 pic.twitter.com/LRLyRx8j45

— Derby County (@dcfcofficial) September 17, 2026

That’s not necessarily a criticism of those players either. They’re being put into a position where they have to contribute when they weren't expecting to be at the club, never mind anything else.

It’s hard to build momentum when half your squad is either injured, adapting to a new league, lacking match fitness or has only just arrived, and the numbers suggest there is a problem beyond simply bad luck.

Derby have managed just 81 shots across their opening seven Championship games, with only 23 on target. That works out at 11.6 shots per game and just 3.3 on target. They have scored from only 7.4% of their attempts.

That lack of attacking output becomes even more concerning when you consider what has happened at Pride Park.

The Rams are yet to win at home in the Championship this season, taking just one point from four matches. They have scored three goals and conceded eight in those games.

Eustace Has Questions to Answer

Which brings us back to the word Derby fans have heard repeatedly:

Patience.

We were told to be patient last season and, to be fair, it eventually worked.

Derby started poorly, very poorly at times, yet somehow Eustace managed to turn things around, dragging the Rams from the wrong end of the table into genuine contention for the play-offs before they ultimately fell just short.

There is evidence to support that argument. Derby were eighth with two games remaining last season and just four points from the play-off places, having transformed their campaign after entering 2026 in 14th.

So perhaps this is another case of déjà vu.

The problem is that fans don't have an unlimited supply of patience.

Football supporters are remarkably forgiving when they can see progress. They will tolerate poor performances if there’s a plan.

They will overlook defeats if the team looks like it’s heading somewhere, but when the performances aren’t convincing, the results aren't coming, and the same questions keep being asked, patience starts to look less like patience and more like blind faith, and Derby have certainly given supporters plenty of questions.

"We need to roll our sleeves up, make sure we're competitive, and get on with the challenge ahead." 🗣️

Head Coach John Eustace looks ahead to this weekend's trip to Burnley. 💭

🔗 https://t.co/6z0FoHuKZn pic.twitter.com/iXdvLHDbZn

— Derby County (@dcfcofficial) September 17, 2026

Why are we constantly changing formation? Why are we playing right-backs in positions that don’t necessarily scream “natural”? Why do we appear to have no recognised striker at times?

Why are players who were involved in the pre-season camp then allowed to leave on loan, while the first team is crying out for numbers, and why was Charlie Smith sent back to the Under-21s when the senior squad already looks stretched?

These aren't unreasonable questions and neither is questioning Eustace's tactics.

Managers don't get a free pass simply because circumstances have been difficult.

At the same time, it would be equally unfair to pretend that Eustace has been handed the perfect tools and simply isn't using them properly. He hasn't.

The takeover collapse has had consequences. Recruitment has been disrupted. Injuries have piled up. Players have arrived late. Others have left. Some haven't had a proper pre-season.

It’s a mess, but football has never really been interested in excuses. It’s interested in points, and Derby need them, especially at home.

Burnley Could Define the Next Chapter

There is something particularly frustrating about Derby’s home form at the moment.

Pride Park is supposed to be somewhere opponents dread visiting.

Instead, Derby have taken just one point from their opening four league games there, while losing their last two home matches against West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City.

That is a significant change from last season, when Derby finished the campaign with six consecutive home victories; their longest winning run at Pride Park in 16 years.

The atmosphere changes quickly when confidence is low.

One misplaced pass becomes two. One missed chance becomes three. The groans get louder. The pressure builds and suddenly everyone is looking at the dugout.

Head Coach John Eustace has full confidence in Derby's goalkeeping options, with Josh Vickers expected to replace Jacob Widell Zetterström at Burnley on Saturday.

Listen here ⤵️ https://t.co/Jku5lRQgHr#DCFC pic.twitter.com/4UqAPjICP0

— BBC Sport Derby (@BBCDerbySport) September 17, 2026

That brings us to Burnley.

There is an argument that this weekend could be Eustace’s final game in charge if Derby fail to get the result they desperately need.

Whether that happens or not remains to be seen, but the fact we're even having that conversation in September tells you everything about where Derby currently find themselves.

Nobody expected the season to be perfect. Nobody expected the takeover chaos to magically disappear overnight.

Nobody expected a squad hit by this many injuries to cruise through the opening weeks but there has to be a point where patience meets expectation, and Derby are getting dangerously close to it.

The frustrating thing is that we’ve seen this story before.

Last season, Eustace somehow turned it around. Maybe he can do it again.

Maybe the injured players will return, the new signings will settle, the squad will finally resemble something close to the team Derby intended to build and the performances will improve but football fans don't live in the world of maybe.

A 'frustrated' John Eustace gives his immediate reaction to this afternoon's 2-1 defeat to Birmingham City. 💭 pic.twitter.com/MpwvjXqbfG

— Derby County (@dcfcofficial) September 12, 2026

They live in the world of Saturday afternoons, league tables and three points, and right now, Derby aren't giving their supporters enough of any of them.

So yes, there are mitigating circumstances; the injury list is ridiculous, and the summer was a mess.

Eustace deserves some credit for what he did last season, but none of that means the manager shouldn't be questioned.

The question isn't necessarily whether Eustace deserves to be sacked right now. The question is much simpler:

How long can he keep asking their supporters to be patient before patience finally runs out?

Burnley might provide us with a rather important answer.