Phillip Cocu's challenging start to life as Derby County manager has taken another turn for the worst with the news that captain Richard Keogh has been injured in a car crash also involving teammates Tom Lawrence and Mason Bennett.
The Derby duo were charged with drink driving after an incident on Tuesday night which left Lawrence's Range Rover a Sport a wreck and will face trial at magistrates court on October 15.
The Telegraph reported on Thursday morning that Keogh was also in the car as a passenger and has suffered significant injuries with a broken wrist and damage to his knee.
Keogh, who made 53 appearances for City from 2005-08 under Gary Johnson, has been a mainstay of the Derby defence since signing from Coventry City in 2012 and has started all eight of their Championship fixtures.
Cocu is expected to confirm the injury to his captain in a press briefing later today ahead of their league game against Birmingham City on Saturday.
Derby are said to be conducting an internal investigation of the incident which was on a club-sanctioned night out.
Since taking over from Frank Lampard at Pride Park, former PSV Eindhoven coach Cocu has won just one Championship game with the Rams 18th and already seven points off the top six.
Losing a leading voice and figure in the dressing room for an extended period will be a sizeable blow to he Dutchman.
Bristol City beat Derby 2-1 on August 20, via goals from Andi Weimann and Josh Brownhill for their first victory over the Rams since 2011.
Under Lampard, Derby reached the play-off final before losing to Aston Villa but lost key members of the team in Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori who returned to parent clubs Chelsea, and Harry Wilson to Liverpool.
