Derby 'don't want to lose Clark in January'

Derby County would not want to lose on-loan midfielder Bobby Clark in January, says head coach John Eustace.

Reports in Scotland claim the RB Salzburg loanee is being lined up for a permanent switch to Celtic.

"It's the first I've heard of it - we don't want to lose him because we brought him in to help develop him and give him a platform to perform and he's certainly done that up until now," Eustace told BBC Radio Derby.

"It's great that big clubs like Celtic are looking at him but we certainly don't want him to go there - but January is a long way away and I'm not worried about that so let's keep giving him some important minutes and see how his performances are between now and then."

Clark, 20, came through Liverpool's academy but made just one Premier League start before moving to RB Salzburg in September 2024. He joined Derby in August and Eustace accepts they would be the last to know if any move had been agreed.

"All we can do is keep working with Bobby - any player coming in will see there's a pathway to playing in Europe and moving to possibly bigger clubs but the important thing is Bobby is our player until then at least and we keep working well with him and he keeps performing for us."

Derby return to Championship action at Oxford United on Saturday (12:30 BST).