"13 or 14 players" - Derby County summer overhaul predicted amid "confident" relegation claim | OneFootball

The Rams look set to return to League One, and John Eustace has plenty of work to do with his squad in the summer.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Derby County are heading for an instant return to League One if they do not start to find their feet in the Championship again in the last 12 games of the season.

John Eustace's side have lost nine of their last 11 league games, while they also bowed out of the FA Cup in the third round to Leyton Orient while Paul Warne was still in charge of the team.

The Rams have not scored in their last six home matches, a club record, and there is a feeling of acceptance surrounding Pride Park that the club will be playing in the third tier for another year once this campaign comes to an end.

Derby's new head coach has plenty of work to do in the coming months, whether survival is achieved or not, and there is likely to be a huge number of changes to the squad between now and the first game of next season.

Verdict made on Derby County's potential summer transfer departures

The Rams have 10 players out of contract in the summer following the arrival of Kemar Roofe on a short-term contract last week. Therefore, it is incredibly likely that there will be a huge amount of movement on the outgoing front from the off.

There has been very little conversation surrounding the renewal of these deals and Eustace will spend the next few weeks evaluating each individual and whether they will be of use next season.

Relegation will make a huge difference to a number of players' futures at Pride Park and Football League World has asked their Derby Fan Pundit, Shaun Woodward, how many players he expects to leave the club in the summer.

"My gut feeling is that it's going to be double figures," Shaun told FLW.

"There are going to be major, major changes at Derby in pre-season, regardless of which league we're in.

"John Eustace is going to have his work cut out because he's got so much to do behind the scenes. It wouldn't surprise me if he's starting to put plans together already, depending on what league we're in and what it's going to look like.

"The fact that we've got Nat Phillips, Jerry Yates, Marcus Harness, David Ozoh and Harrison Armstrong on loan, they'll all go back to their clubs. So that's five straight away.

"We’ve got Matt Clarke and Kemar Roofe on short-term contracts. So, if we go down, there's no way either of those will stay at the club. I can't see either of those wanting to play in the third tier. So that's two more gone.

"Kane Wilson's contract is up at the end of the season. He's far too good for League One and I'm sure he'll have many suitors in the Championship, so if we go down, which I'm pretty confident we will now, he’ll be gone."

Shaun continued: "Then you've got the likes of Tom Barkhuizen, Conor Washington, Craig Forsyth. Their contracts are up, and I don't think any of them realistically should stay at the club. I think Forsyth’s been a great servant, but at 36 his time's done.

"Washington hasn't kicked a ball in anger this year so he's gone. Barkhuizen isn't good enough anymore and just doesn't cut it, so he's another one that will be gone. Sonny Bradley. I know he's still under contract, but he's out on loan and might be happy where he's gone. He might want to stay there.

"The only one I'll probably look to keep out of all of those I haven't mentioned is Liam Thompson, who's out of contract at the end of the season. But I think he could do a good job for us in League One.

"So potentially you're looking at about 13 or 14 players that could be gone at the end of the season and I haven't even mentioned the likes of Sondre Langas or Jacob Widell Zettestrom. I don't think either of those for their international careers are going to want to drop into the third tier of English football, so that's two more potentially that might need to look elsewhere if we go down.

"Relegation for this club is going to be a seriously hard pill to swallow for the management team, because they're going to have their work cut out to try and put together a new squad that's capable of challenging in League One.

"It's going to be a tough, tough pre-season because it looks like we're going to go down. So good luck to John Eustace and his coaching staff."

Derby County have to have a reset with their squad this summer

The Rams' team is unrecognisable compared to the one that was relegated from the Championship three years ago, and they must undergo another major change if they are to recover ahead of next season.

Derby have too many players that are not playing well enough to compete at this level, and while they may prove to be useful in League One, promotion back to the second tier would leave them in the same position that they are in now.

The number of playing staff that are out of contract does help Eustace to free up space and integrate fresh confidence into the team.

The Rams are not showing signs that they can turnaround this season, but if they do go down, they can come back and rebuild ahead of another year in League One.