rejected a move despite a personal phone call from club captain Wayne Rooney. Against the back drop of these transfer links, it was Rooney's 87th-minute free kick that proved the difference in 1–0 win away to Norwich City that took the club out of the bottom three and relieved some of the pressure building on Cocu going into the first international break of the season. In the days leading up to the closure of the domestic transfer window on 16 October, Louie Sibley was linked with a move to Leeds United and Florian Jozefzoon was linked with Rotherham United; Jozefzoon duly joined The Millers until the end of the campaign. Following the collapse of a deal for Charlie Austin, Derby were linked with a move for his West Brom teammate Kenneth Zohore and also tabled a loan bid for former loanee Harry Wilson Ultimately, the club signed free agent Colin Kazim-Richards and, in a move that proved controversial amongst the fanbase, allowed Jack Marriott to leave for a season-long loan at Sheffield Wednesday, though the club retained the right to recall the forward in January and extended his contract until the end of the 2021/22 season. On the day the window closed, Derby lost 1–0 at home to Watford to continue their poor start to the season. The result was compounded three days later with the news that Wayne Rooney would have to go into self isolation for ten days following his coming into contact with a friend who was later diagnosed as having COVID-19 and miss three games as a result. The first of these games was a 1–0 defeat at Huddersfield Town, a fifth defeat in six league games, which increased the pressure manager Phillip Cocu; the Dutch press rumoured his job was "hanging by a thread" though Chairman Mel Morris publicly backed Cocu, saying "Of course we are concerned about the lack of points, as is the manager. But when you look at the cards we’ve been dealt this season, it's hardly surprising that results have been poor. Does he have our support? Yes, we have got to be realistic about the challenges he faces. This is not about a lack of tactics, or effort on the training field, or those things." The following three games, away to Nottingham Forest in the first East Midlands derby of the season, at home to Cardiff City and away to