Derby County were thankful to have new recruit Dwight Gayle at their disposal against Port Vale at the weekend, with the ageing free agent purchase heading home late into the first half to help Paul Warne's men win 3-0 in League One action.
The former Crystal Palace man, who is now very much in the twilight of his career at 34 years of age, could prove to be an ingenious short-term fix to Derby's mounting striker issues with the likes of James Collins and Martyn Waghorn currently in the Pride Park treatment room.
Another centre-forward has also found himself constantly plagued by recurring injury issues for the Rams, with the attacker in question boasting a rather handsome pay packet regardless of his lack of minutes in the past few months.
Conor Washington's time with Derby
Last featuring for his promotion-chasing side all the way back on Halloween against Northampton Town, where he managed to help himself to a goal and an assist, Conor Washington has been injury-stricken since to the dismay of Warne and Co.
Before a serious knee knock recently stopped him in his tracks, Washington was beginning to star for his new employers.
The experienced 31-year-old striker would bag three goals and chip in with two assists from 14 League One contests before disaster struck at Sixfields for the ex-Peterborough United man.
Now, however, with Warne revealing that Washington is likely to be out for the season, the 5 foot 10 forward's high wage should be under scrutiny.
Washington comes in at an extortionate £6.4k per week – according to Salary Sport – which puts him on a bumper wage compared to a number of consistent first-team performers who continue to provide and be impactful for Derby in their ongoing promotion hunt.
Astoundingly, the Northern Irishman earns a heftier pay packet than Nathaniel Mendez-Laing with talk surely having to come up soon over whether Washington should be kept on owing to his wage burning a big hole in the Rams pocket whilst he remains sidelined.
Conor Washington's wage compared to the Derby squad
Mendez-Laing, despite coming in with a staggering 26 goal contributions in all competitions this season, finds himself on a less luxurious wage than his injured counterpart – the ex-Wolverhampton Wanderers winger earning just £4.9k in contrast.
Moreover, Washington's wage sees him earn more than standout youngster Eiran Cashin, according to Salary Sport, with the one-time Brighton target picking up a measly £3.3k per week whilst his 31-year-old teammate earns amazingly more than double.
1. Conor Hourihane
£12k per week
2. Curtis Nelson
£8.4k per week
3. James Collins
£8.1k per week
4. Louis Sibley
£8k per week
5. Max Bird
£7.9k per week
Although Washington is some way off Conor Hourihane's inflated Rams wage – with the former Aston Villa midfielder way out in front as Derby's highest earner at £12k per week – it still would be a smart bit of business to offload the Northern Irish forward soon especially if he remains a regular fixture in the Pride Park treatment room.
Described as "struggling" behind the scenes by Warne off the back of this injury setback, there could well be a time in the not-so-distant future when the 50-year-old boss has to cut ties with Washington to kindly end his stop-start time in Derbyshire before more money is thrown away.
