Wayne Rooney and Derby suffer yet another blow as talented teenager set for exit

It never rains, but it pours for Derby County.

The beleaguered Championship side had a wretched January transfer window which saw them lose a clutch of players from their already reduced squad.

They also saw two talented youngsters in Dylan Williams and Luke Plange secure big moves to Premier League sides Chelsea and Crystal Palace respectively.

The only bright spot for boss Wayne Rooney was that he was able to ensure Plange remains at Pride Park on loan for the remainder of the campaign.

But now a further blow has come with yet another of Derby's young assets snapped up by a top flight side.

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Teenage Northern Ireland striker Omari Kellyman is reportedly heading for Aston Villa.

The Sun say that the Rams' administrators Quantuma have accepted a bid of £600,000 for the 16-year-old.

The deal can be done now, outside of the window, as Kellyman is a youth player and not subject to the senior transfer window rules and regulations.

Even though Derby have received a six-figure fee, it will do little to alter Rooney's outlook. Earlier this week the former England captain blasted clubs for taking advantage of County's perilous position.

Rooney said: "Some people might look at it and say, it's young players that (have) gone out, but we've been relying on young players all season, so it's a big hit for us.

"Ideally I'd have wanted Luke Plange to stay with us, maybe for another 18 months, and see him develop. For the club as a whole, it would have been better financially if that was the case.

"We're in a difficult position and I feel other clubs have taken advantage of that.

"Whether that's Wigan with Graeme Shinnie, Crystal Palace with Luke Plange, they've seen an opportunity.

"There's a reason why they've come in and tried to do it now because they know they are getting the players a lot lower than they are actually valued at."

Derby, who have been in administration since September and have been hit with handicaps totalling 21 points, remain seven points adrift of safety in the Championship.

Wednesday night saw them lose 2-0 to Huddersfield Town despite a dogged performance.

Their game-plan went out of the window after just three minutes when defender Richard Stearman was sent off against his former club.

Despite only registering a solitary shot (off-target) in the entire game, Rooney said he was pleased with the performance and is even more confident that his side can mount an extraordinary survival mission in the final third of the season.

He said: "I've not seen the red card incident back yet. But Stears said at half-time that he felt he'd won the ball.

"That was the referee's decision, though, and we dealt with it without making a fuss.

"I was really proud of the players as they chased back, worked hard - it was a really good feeling to see them players fighting for the club like that.

"Despite the result, I believe even more now that we can survive."