REPUBLIC OF IRELAND international Richard Keogh is set to play his 600th game in English football when Derby County host Wigan Athletic in the Championship tomorrow evening.

The London-born defender, who joined Derby from Coventry City in 2012, also previously played for Bristol City, Wycombe Wanderers, Huddersfield Town, Carlisle United and Cheltenham Town.

Ahead of the milestone outing, Rams boss Frank Lampard paid tribute to his 32-year-old skipper during this afternoon’s pre-match press conference.

“Anyone who can amass that amount of games at this level deserves a huge amount of respect,” the former Chelsea and England midfielder told reporters.

“I’ve found him to be an incredible professional and very hard-working. He’s a fantastic player and he’s been one of our top performers this season, without a doubt.”

Capped 21 times by Ireland at senior level, Keogh wore the captain’s armband in the absence of Seamus Coleman for last October’s Uefa Nations League games against Denmark and Wales at the Aviva Stadium.

His club are currently under pressure to get their faltering promotion bid back on track. Saturday’s 4-0 defeat at Aston Villa was their third consecutive Championship loss. It leaves them three points adrift of the play-off places ahead of Wigan’s visit to Pride Park. 

“It’s a challenge, but three losses and being three points away from the play-offs is no crisis,” said Lampard. “We have to have context, while knowing only we can affect it — to get the performances and results we want.” 

Subscribe to our new podcast, The42 Rugby Weekly, here: