Derby County have had a terrible time with injuries this season, but one man has stepped to the fore to help the club in its hour of need

John Eustace has hailed Ryan Hedges and feels the Derby County defender has adapted brilliantly to the left-back role. Hedges has been forced into the position due to injuries to Derry Murkin, Craig Forsyth and Charlie Taylor but has been excellent despite being a winger.

The former Blackburn man produced an outstanding performance against Sheffield United yesterday in what was a makeshift back four at Bramall Lane. Derby had to play more than 30 minutes with 10 men as United turned the screw and eventually cancelled out Bobby Clark's opener with a goal from Patrick Bamford.

That led to a late siege, but Hedges and his teammates withstood the barrage to secure a point when they looked a good bet to seal all three before Sanderson's dismissal.

Eustace was thrilled with Hedges and believes the summer signing, who put pen to paper on a one-year contract, has given Derby good balance.

"Ryan's come in initially as a squad player and to play on the right wing, left wing and the last two or three games he's played left back, and I think he's been excellent.

"He's really growing into the position. It's given us the right balance on the left side and the way we want to play, because we want our left back to be very aggressive going forward.

"Obviously, we've missed Derry Murkin for the whole season up to now. We've had a couple of different options in there which have been fine and great, but to give us the right balance and how we want to play, we want that attacking left back and Hedgey with and without the ball was great."

Make sure you never miss the latest Derby County news and opinion by making Derbyshire Live one of your Google preferred sources.

Hedges will continue as Derby's left-back at Millwall next week, when Derby will again have to field a defence short on options. Sanderson has been suspended for one game due to his red card at United, which means Jack Robinson could be set to start after coming off the bench yesterday.

The free agent has been working on his fitness after arriving on a short-term deal until January, but may now have to be plunged in from the start.

Assessing Robinson's contribution, Eustace said: "I thought it was a great pre-season game for him. Obviously, he played 25 minutes, but I think he's only had half a session since he's been back, and I didn't want to put him on with half an hour to go.

"Ideally, it would be five to 10 minutes, whatever, just to stick him on in the back three, but, again, this is experience, and I'm sure there's a lot more to come from Jack."