Derby County manager Paul Warne has dropped a very worrying injury verdict on striker Conor Washington following their defeat to Charlton Athletic.
Derby County blew a lead for the second time in three days after losing 2-1 to strugglers Charlton.
Eiran Cashin opened the scoring with a powerful header but that was erased when Joe Wildsmith gifted the visitors a route back into the game by giving away a needless penalty which Alfie May scored from.
Then Karoy Anderson completed the turnaround by lashing in the follow-up after Wildsmith denied Daniel Kanu.
Paul Warne was left ultimately disappointed with the manner of this defeat as the Rams dropped yet more points, 11 to be exact, from a winning position in this calendar.
That is a cause for concern for any side in the division, never mind one fighting for automatic promotion.
For Warne, the performance wasn’t the only disappointing news to come out of Pride Park as he revealed that striker Conor Washington could be out for the remainder of the campaign.
Conor Washington could miss the rest of the campaign
Washington’s injury issues since arriving at Derby in the summer have typified the problems that Warne has had in the striker position this term.
Although Martyn Waghorn returned to the bench against Charlton, top scorer James Collins and Arsenal loanee Tyreece John-Jules have both joined Washington on the injury table.
The £6k-a-week ace has been sidelined since November after damaging ligaments in his ankle while on international duty with Northern Ireland.
Despite recently returning to grass, a reoccurrence of the knee injury he had at Rotherham has resurfaced, potentially keeping him out for the remainder of the campaign.
That is according to Warne, who provided an update on Washington’s progress after the loss to Charlton.
Speaking to the Rams Daily Podcast, he said: “Wash is struggling, that’s the truth, I don’t know if we’ll see him by the end of the season. I hope we do but he is struggling with his knee which is disappointing.”
Warne has been unfortunate with injuries
Warne can’t put Derby’s underperformance purely down to injuries, although they have played their part.
The injury to Collins, especially, has been felt in recent matches as the Rams have lost their focal point and talismanic figure up top while Waghorn’s long spell on the sidelines was a huge miss.
Of course, Dwight Gayle has been brought in to fill that void, but delivering similar levels to Collins has immediately put a huge strain on his shoulders.
And while he is more than capable of scoring the goals required in his absence, he can only feed off what the attacking players are supplying him.
Sadly, they didn’t get the ball enough to Gayle last night and that has to change moving forward.
As for Washington, he scored three goals and supplied two assists in the 14 matches he played for Derby and his injury for the past three months has served as a huge blow to Warne.
Let’s just hope that the 31-year-old makes a speedy recovery as he’s endured a torrid time with injuries at Pride Park so far.