Derby Quartet Sign New Deals

Four Derby County players have put pen to paper on new contracts with the club.

Defender Alex Pearce has signed a fresh one-year extension to his existing deal, whilst highly-rated Academy graduates Mason Bennett and Callum Guy have all penned new three-year contracts that will keep them at the club until 2020.

After turning 17 earlier this week, Max Bird has also signed his first professional deal with the club – until 2020.

Pearce, the 28-year-old Republic of Ireland international, joined the Rams in the summer of 2015 from Reading and enjoyed his best season to date at Pride Park Stadium last year as he made 45 appearances in all competitions for Derby and scored two goals.

Bennett, 21, has been rewarded for an impressive calendar year to date, which has seen him break back into the first team fold and place himself firmly in Gary Rowett’s plans going forward.

Bird impressed during his senior debut in the Carabao Cup Second Round match at Barnsley, whilst Guy made his own first team debut in the same game – completing a journey that started with him joining the club’s Academy set-up at the age of nine.

On the quartet, Rowett, the Derby manager, told RamsTV: “Pearcey was one of those players that was in the last year of his contract and he is someone who is a really good character to have around the place.

“He has desire, he wants to win and has the mentality that we want. At the moment, he isn’t in the team and that’s something he understands, but, as I have told him, it is up to him to fight and earn a place in that shirt.

“He wants to do that, so we have extended his contract by another year. He’s the right type for us to have around and he will be chomping at the bit to try and play.

“The other three have got potential to get into the first team. Callum Guy is undergoing a different time at the moment because he has been out for five months and has been rushed back and thrust into the action when he is not quite ready.

“I think it will be a while before we see the best of him, but he showed at Port Vale in League 1 that he can certainly challenge for a place in our squad.

“With Mason, I have been pleased with his development and he is someone that I have spoken about a lot recently about what he needs to do to get into the team.

“He’s been in and around it and I think he is having a strong season compared to the last two or three.

“In terms of Max Bird, we know what potential he has got. He did really well against Barnsley. We feel, physically for the Championship, that he is little off where we need him to be, but he has only just turned 17 and you are not going to get those elements straight away.

“What he has shown is that he has got the mentality and the capability to cope with the pressure of having the ball.

“I see him, as does the Academy, as someone who has got a big future ahead of him at the club.”