directly into company chairman Andy Appleby." November The month started with the club revealing that Mark O'Brien had successfully undergone heart surgery to correct a valve problem, and that he would be able to resume his career following a three- to four-month recovery period. The problem had been discovered during a routing medical scan for academy players. It was also revealed that Jay McEveley's heart has stopped for two minutes during surgery on the cheekbone he had fractured during the defeat at Middlesbrough, though he was revived and was available, whilst wearing a protective mask for the match against Coventry City, joining the returning Rob Hulse, Dean Leacock and Paul Green. Despite falling behind to a fourth-minute goal from Leon Best, Derby won the match 2–1, with Hulse grabbing two goals and missing a penalty, earning himself a place in the Championship Team of the week, earning his second Team of the week of the season. The win ended a three match losing streak, and a four match winless run, and lifted Derby to 17th in the table going into the third international break of the season. The return to action two weeks later saw a match away to Swansea City end in defeat, the first time Derby had lost to the Swans in 26 years. The month ended with a 2–1 victory over Reading, with Derby again coming from a goal down to win, with Rob Hulse scoring the winner to take his tally for the season to 6. The result lifted Derby to 16th in the table. The return of Bryan Hughes to Hull City following the completion of his one-month loan freed up numbers in terms of loanees, and Leicester City's DJ Campbell was bought in on a monthlong loan, joining Leicester teammate Paul Dickov. A freak injury to reserve goalkeeper Saul Deeney (who was ruled out for six weeks after twisting his ankle when slipping over in the rain after an unplanned fire drill at the hotel the team were staying at prior to the 1–0 defeat at Swansea) heightened the need for a goalkeeper, and Clough was again linked with a move for frequent target, Blackburn Rover's Frank Fielding, though the move was knocked back by Blackburn. Mark Dudley and Gary Mills were loaned out to Hinckley United and Solihull Moors respectively whilst both Jermaine Johnson and Henrik Ojamaa made one-month loan moves to Stafford