‘Ledley Is Here To Make A Difference’

Gary Rowett says Joe Ledley can add a ‘destructive’ influence to Derby County’s midfield after the Welshman joined the club on a deal until January.

The 30-year-old met his Rams team mates for the first time on Friday as the squad intensified their preparations for Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship game against Birmingham City, kick-off: 3pm.

Rowett, the Derby manager, has confirmed that Ledley is likely to be in the matchday squad that is named to face the Blues at Pride Park Stadium.

Speaking about the midfielder in his pre-match press conference, the 43-year-old said it was a ‘no-brainer’ to sign him and revealed that he was a player that was looked at during the summer.

Unable to get a deal done then, it is safe to say Rowett is pleased to land his man now and insists he is not being brought to the club to merely make up the numbers.

Instead, the Rams’ manager has challenged Ledley to do so well for the club between now and January that Derby are ‘begging’ for him to stay longer.

Rowett told the media: “Firstly, we are in a circumstance that ideally we wouldn’t want to be in.

“We are light in midfield and in an ideal world we would have had a player ready to step into that breach. Circumstantially, Callum Guy has been out for five months and it would be unfair to throw him straight into it.

“Bradley Johnson is also on three bookings, so there are a lot of things we have had to consider. We tried to get Joe in previously, but to get him on a short-term deal was difficult with the interest that he had from other clubs.

“Such was his desire to come to the club that he accepted that short-term nature of what we were looking for and in an ideal world, we want him to do so well for us that we are begging for him to stay for longer.

“That’s the perfect scenario. He’s a different type of midfielder. He adds an extra bit of bite and is a little bit more destructive than the ones that we have got in there.

“His role for Wales and Palace has been to be in the middle of the park and break the game up and give the ball to the ones that are going to play further forward.

“He can play himself – he has shown that throughout his career – and he can handle big games. For me, it was absolute no-brainer and we are delighted to have him here.

“We’re looking forward to seeing him play. He is certainly not coming here to be cover. He’s coming here to make a difference.”