The Rams wasted no time in finding a new right back to replace John Brayford. New loan signing Adam Smith arrived on a year long deal from Tottenham and Nigel Clough was so chuffed he has even started talking up the Rams chances of promotion.

Smith is a 22 year old defender who is considered by Spurs as a star of the future having already represented England at 5 age levels including 11 recent caps for the U21’s.

Tottenham has been regularly loaning out the player over recent years to prepare him for the rigours of top flight football. It was performances during recent loans spells at Leeds and Millwall that caught Clough’s attention who admired the way he went about his football.

Having played over 100 Football League matches - there should be no problem with Smith quickly slotting into Pride Park and make an immediate impact during his year long loan from Spurs over the 13/14 season.

Speaking to the Official DCFC Site — Nigel Clough believes the Rams have signed an up and coming star who will complement his crop of talented youngsters.

“We’re extremely pleased to bring Adam in on a season-long loan deal. He’s a young player with a lot of potential and we’ve been very impressed with what we’ve seen of him over the last few years.”

“Whenever we’ve seen him in the Championship or on international duty he’s stood out as a very solid right back, and someone that likes to get forwards as well. As soon as we were aware John was going to leave last week we identified Adam as someone we would like to bring in, so to have the deal done within a matter of days is very pleasing and we’re sure he’ll be a good player for us.”

“It also says a lot that Tottenham are prepared to let him spend the season with us. They’re obviously aware of our reputation when it comes to young players and there’s no doubt it’ll be a great experience for Adam coming here and playing a full.”

The other main development at Pride Park may not seem like a big one to some but anyone who has closely followed Nigel Clough’s rhetoric will know he has never really been one to be positive about a play — off or promotion tilt.

That was until now!

Although nothing more than a sliver of positivity — is Nigel finally feeling that he may have the squad that could signal the start of a genuine push for Premier League status? His recent comments would suggest that his chargers have given him reason to be hit by a wave of new found positivity!

“Top six is possible if everyone stays fit. And if players like Will Hughes and Jeff Hendrick keep developing. So yes, it’s possible this season.”

“We only finished seven points away from the top six - and if we’d had people fully fit over 20 games, then we might have made that up. We’ve brought in Lee Grant in goal this season - and who knows, he might make the difference. He could win us a few points here and there.”

“The big thing for us this season will be having the assets on the field for the first time. We’re doing all right at the moment. The owners are relaxed about things because they can see they have a value there - a lot of value.”

“So we don’t feel like we’re far away this season.”

It nearly gives me cause to start feeling optimistic!

Some genuinely talented signings added to our young squad who should be ready to bloom now they have genuine match experience under their belts. Plus it seems money is available to spend on reinforcements if the right player comes along.

If Nigel thinks we can - then who am I to argue - 2013/14 may be the season we look back and remember when a new age was born at DCFC.

We have heard and hoped before but still one can only dream!

Photo: Action Images

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