Ex-Aberdeen skipper Graeme Shinnie dumped in Derby County’s Under-23s side
GRAEME SHINNIE has found himself dumped in the Under-23s at Derby County.
The former Aberdeen skipper joined Derby earlier this summer when he was signed by County's former boss Frank Lampard.
But the Scotland international is now struggling to get into the plans of new boss Phillip Cocu.
He has yet to figure in the Championship this season – his only first-team outing coming in the 1-0 Carabao Cup win against Scunthorpe United – and played 90 minutes for the under-23s in Monday's 1-0 win against Southampton.
Cocu said: "He wasn’t signed by me, that’s true.
"He is playing with the under-23s. He just has to work a little bit longer with me and with my staff to find the right way to work together.
"He has his qualities, but we have a lot of players with good qualities. That is why there is competition inside the team.
"Sometimes, players can be disappointed and out of the team, or with the under-23s, then the next game they can be in.
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"That is also depending on themselves and how they perform during games and during training sessions.
"Everybody is used to competition inside a team. If you don’t have that, players can get really comfortable and that is not good either.
"I also believe that every player needs the possibility of playing minutes in a team. If you don't have any prospect of playing, it will be very hard to keep your motivation.
"We will work with all players, we sit down with all players to see what they do well or what they can improve."
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