I mentioned in last weeks article that the top six is no longer an ambitious enough target for the Rams; for a very short while the top six was the target, but it has now been overtaken by rapidly changing events.

A short while ago, the top three clubs were disappearing over the horizon in a cloud of dust; now after the Rams last gasp win over Boro, the top two are within site with only seven points between the summit and the hard-charging Rams.

One thing that has not changed is my contention that Saturday's game against Blackpool is a vital fixture; one that will tell us how much progress the team has truly made. Can we beat the top teams, or are we merely good at beating up the also-rans?

A win against Blackpool would be five in a row, and would leave us to finish the year with another four very winnable matches against Charlton, Doncaster, Huddersfield and Barnsley; albeit three of them are away.

Nine wins in a row could be too much to expect, but we have our sights set high nowadays. Suffice to say that we could enter the New Year in amongst the Leicesters, QPRs and Burnleys of this world.

Whatever the Rams do or do not achieve this season, we have jumped up two divisions since the start of the season. You may ask what I mean by that, as we are still in the Championship?

Basically I see the League as being divided and because we have left behind the looking-over-the-shoulder relegation strugglers; and passed through the comfortable mid-table dwellers, we have moved up through the obvious divisions in the table.

We are now looking at the real possibility of competing for automatic promotion.

Its worth some contemplation: if the Rams continue to prosper through the rest of December, what will that do to our January transfer window activities?

If we should be sitting in third place in early January - or even second - what sort of players can we look forward to being brought in during January? Only pretty significant signings are realistically going to make an improvement to this team.

I haven't the slightest idea about names, but I could see at least one central defender coming in permanently or at least until seasons end; possibly two, with one as a backup.

I could also see a midfielder and a striker. I should think we'd be looking at players with Premier League experience and real physical presence; I get the impression that SM values a top flight pedigree. This would address what I see as our shortcoming in that we are still a slightly built team that is light on experience.

Would ownership go for it: spending perhaps £10 million on three or four players, with the goal of taking a real shot at automatic promotion? How could they not? If Steve Mac has us in the top three in January, could they really turn down reasonable demands?

I should think he would be fully justified in turning his back and walking out, if that was to be the case. On the other side of the coin, a number of players who haven't featured much recently, could be on their way, if something can be worked out.

So: an interesting, and crucial December to look forward to and, perhaps a very interesting January, both on and off the pitch.

Season's Greetings to us all!

Photo: Action Images

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