Derby County are in talks with free agent defender Efe Ambrose over a short-term contract.
Frank Lampard has been eager to bolster his options at centre back and has turned to the 30 year old Nigeria international who left Scottish Premiership side Hibernian in January after activating a clause in his contract.
Ambrose has been in good form this season and despite the offer of a new deal from the Easter Road club, he wanted to explore interest from Championship clubs.
Bolton and Nottingham Forest have both been in contact but the prospect of lining up for Lampard and his high flying Derby side excites the vastly experienced Ambrose.
Talks took place on Wednesday afternoon and, pending a medical, all sides are hopeful of concluding a deal before the end of the week.
Ambrose, who played over 160 games for Celtic including in the Champions League, is likely to sign until the end of the season.