You said Derby are where they are in spite of him, not because of him. I can only presume this means you saw him as a liability.
Yes, he's having a good season. That's all he can do. He could crash and burn at international level or indeed in the Premier League... but then again ye could flourish like Sledge or Delaney.
He's certainly down the pecking order a bit - nobody, including himself, is saying otherwise. No harm in keeping tabs on him though.
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