Derby County will be looking to address their worrying run of form in the Championship this weekend when the face Birmingham City at Pride Park.

Having suffered four league defeats in a row, the Rams are now facing a real battle to retain their second-tier status with Rotherham United and Sheffield Wednesday both ready to pounce on any further slip-ups.

Whilst Derby manager Wayne Rooney's number-one priority between now and the end of the season is to keep his side in the Championship, he may have to make a decision on the future of one his players ahead of the summer transfer window.

As reported by the South London Press, Millwall manager Gary Rowett has revealed that the club have entered talks with Scott Malone over a permanent move to The Den.

Speaking about the 30-year-old, the Lions boss said: "Scott is one that we're still in discussion with.

"I've been quite consistent in that he is one we'd like to keep for longer.

"But no-one is ever really in a massive rush until the summer and until we start looking like we're coming back for pre-season.

"I'd hope to see some sort of movement on that fairly soon."

Signed by the Lions last year on a season-long loan deal from Derby, Malone has made 39 appearances for the club in all competitions in which he has provided eight direct goal contributions.

The former Fulham man, who has been used predominately by Millwall on the left-hand side of midfield, will be able to join the London-based outfit on a free transfer following the culmination of the 2020/21 campaign if Derby opt not to offer him a new contract.

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When you consider just how impressive Malone has been for Millwall this season, it will be intriguing to see whether Rooney is willing to hand him the opportunity to prove himself at Derby by extending his stay at Pride Park past the summer.

As well as illustrating that he is capable of creating and scoring goals, the Lions loanee has averaged a WhoScored match rating of 6.96 in the Championship which is a total that has only been bettered by two Rams players during the current campaign.

Providing that the Rams are able to avoid relegation to League One, they ought to consider trying to convince Malone to turn down a move to Millwall given the standard of his displays in recent months.

However, if Derby are relegated to the third-tier, it wouldn't be at all surprising if Malone leaves the club in order to play on a regular basis at a higher level.