A loan move to Championship side Derby County was an ideal opportunity for defender Andre Wisdom to maintain his match experience, according to Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers.

The 20-year-old's temporary switch was announced earlier this week following a breakthrough 2012-13 campaign in which the England U21 international made 19 appearances for the Reds.

Discussion of sending Wisdom out on loan was raised in the summer - something the No.47 welcomed - only for Glen Johnson to suffer an injury on the penultimate day of the transfer window.

The youngster will work with former England boss Steve McClaren during his stay at Pride Park and Rodgers anticipates a beneficial period ahead for the versatile defender.

"I wanted to get Andre out earlier," the boss explained to the Liverpool Echo.

"The plan was to get him out in the summer but I couldn't because of the nature of the injuries we had. We had to keep him around.

"Andre has played 22 games for us, which has been great for him. But now we've got other players back and with only having one game a week you have to be careful with young players that they don't become stale.

"The chance came up for him to go out and play regularly, and Derby is a brilliant club. Steve McClaren is a good manager who has worked at the top level and I'm sure Andre will benefit from his time there."