Saah sits out derby clashes

Striker Connor Sammon has praised Derby's youth contingent, which has added an 'eagerness' to the Rams squad,

The Rams included four Academy graduates in the 18-man matchday squad in the 3-1 defeat of Leeds on Saturday, with Nigel Clough's starting midfield four boasting an average age of just 20-and-a-half.

Sammon, 26, told the club's official website: "We have got a young group of players here, and it can sometimes be disappointing coming off the park like we did a couple of weeks ago having been beaten 4-1 against Leicester City.

"However, we came back in the following Monday and put it totally behind us. Training was brilliant all week and we just regrouped and looked ahead at the next game.

"I think that is what you get from young players, just so eager to put things right again, which we did against Leeds, and now we are all looking forward to Bristol City."

He added: "It is good to see such a young group of players really growing together."

The centre-back saw red just 35 minutes into the 1-0 defeat at Valley Parade for what referee Darren Bond deemed as an elbow in the face of Bradford's James Meredith.

But despite the Gulls decision not to appeal the three-match ban, Saah insists it was an accident.

"I have caught him, but I didn't mean to," he told the Western Morning News. "It was an accident. It was never meant to happen. I feel like I'm getting punished for doing something I never even intended to do, which is hard to take.

"As soon as I saw the replay, even though I still think it looked worse than it was, I knew there was no point appealing."

Saah, who had been the stand-in captain in the absence of skipper Lee Mansell through a red card of his own, will miss the Plainmoor clashes with Northampton and Exeter and the trip to Home Park to face Plymouth on Boxing Day.