Tuesday 5 November 2019 09:39, UK
Richard Keogh will meet with the PFA on Tuesday as he begins to build a case against Derby County, who sacked him for gross misconduct, Sky Sports News has learned.
The 33-year-old is still distraught and shocked, Sky Sports News has been told, after being informed a week ago that his contract would be terminated with immediate effect unless he accepted a pay cut.
Keogh was a back-seat passenger in the car driven by team-mate Tom Lawrence that crashed into a lamppost after an ill-fated team bonding session that saw Lawrence and Mason Bennett convicted of drink-driving.
It has emerged Keogh was trapped in the back of the crashed Range Rover for more than half an hour on the A6 near Derby, unable to escape because of the injuries to his knee.
This occurred during a team night out in September which Derby described as an "alcohol-related incident".
Keogh has already had one operation and could need further surgery with the injury set to see the defender sidelined until December 2020, although his agent has told talkSPORT he is certain his client will play football again.
Keogh has not been charged with any criminal offence but was sacked by Derby, while both Lawrence and Bennett remain key parts of Philip Cocu's squad - Lawrence scored twice in Derby's 2-0 victory over Middlesbrough.
Following the incident, Bennett, and Lawrence pleaded guilty to drink-driving, and were ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work, given a 12-month community order and disqualified from driving for two years.
Centre-back Keogh has played more than 350 games for Derby, and had 18 months left on his contract.
