Position : Goalkeeper
Played : 2008-09 ; 2009-10 ( both on loan from Blackburn )
Appearances : ( first spell ) 25 ; (second spell) 18
Goals : 0
Frank was first signed in January 2009 after an injury to Sam Russell. Frank was 19 and born in Blackburn. He made his League debut on loan at Wycombe in September 2007 and did so well the deal was extended to the end of the season with Frank keeping both their regular keepers out of the side. Before joining us he had a three month loan spell at Northampton.
Frank was a brave and agile keeper most notable for his decisiveness in coming off his line and clearing the ball well outside his area for which he was quickly nicknamed "Psycho". You kept waiting for him to be caught out doing this but it never happened. As happened at Wycombe his deal was extended to the end of the season and we never saw Russell or Spencer again.
The following season he went on loan to Leeds as cover but never had to actually play and he was free to re-join us in February. Amongst some ungrateful fans bemoaning the departure of Tom Heaton his reception was a bit muted but it didn't seem to bother him. Frank did fine in helping us over the line although he didn't make as many forays off his line as before ( perhaps Sam Allardyce had coached it out of him ) . He certainly joined in the promotion celebrations wholeheartedly , whipping his shirt off at the final whistle and doing a lap of the pitch on fans' shoulders.
Frank spent last season shuttling between Blackburn and Derby making the subs' bench at last for the former although he didn't come on. He went to Derby in the autumn and helped them climb to fourth in the table. When he returned in February they were 19th and he helped them gain 8 points from 6 games compared to the 6 from 12 since his departure. A couple of weeks ago he signed a three year deal with Derby. Last season Frank also got a call-up to the full England squad as he was on hand with the under-21s when Ben Foster got injured.
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