Derby County's Robert Earnshaw says he has improved as a player - despite spending most of the season on the bench. Earnshaw joined bottom-of-the-table Derby last summer for a club-record £3.5million from Norwich City where he had scored 27 goals in 47 appearances.

Yet despite such a superb goalscoring record, Earnshaw has failed to nail down a place in the Rams starting line-up, either under former coach Billy Davies or current manager Paul Jewell.

The Wales international, omitted from John Toshack's latest squad for the first time in six years, has made just six starts all season, with his 14 other appearances as a substitute.