Derby County extend Chris Martin loan from Norwich City

Derby County have agreed a deal to extend Chris Martin's loan spell from Premier League Norwich City until the end of the season.

The 24-year-old striker joined on a one-month deal in February and scored his first goal in the impressive 2-1 win over Leicester City last Saturday.

"We're happy Chris is sticking around," boss Nigel Clough told Derby's website.

"We have been talking to Norwich for around a week now so it's good to get something sorted," Clough added.

Martin, who has made five appearances so far for Derby, indicated after the Leicester match that he was keen to remain at Pride Park and was already thinking ahead to their first game after the international break.

"We have a bit of time to rest and hopefully I can pick up where I left off in a couple of weeks. I need to make sure I come back fresh and firing for Bristol City," Martin said.

Clough believes the Rams, currently 13th in the Championship table, can finish the season strongly as Martin's match fitness increases.

"Chris makes life uncomfortable for defenders in a different way to what our other strikers do," said Clough.

"It's part of a centre-forward's job to make life for a defender very difficult and Chris does well in that respect, especially physically.

"He drops off into little pockets of space and we like that, and he's done well linking up with Conor Sammon too, so Jamie Ward's return means we have a good variety of attacking options."