Derby County boss Paul Warne has shared an injury update on Tyrese Fornah and Conor Washington.
Derby County kick off their 2024/25 Championship season in a week’s time.
Paul Warne‘s side play their final pre-season friendly on Saturday, hosting Spanish outfit Valladolid at Pride Park.
It’ll cap what’s been a relatively promising summer for the Rams who’ve made several impressive signings, with Ebou Adams returning from Cardiff City and Jerry Yates joining on loan among other deals.
Derby County though have lost their last three pre-season matches.
Last time out, Derby County lost 4-3 vs Barnsley, which followed defeats vs Shrewsbury Town and Chesterfield.
Derby County open their Championship campaign against John Eustace’s Blackburn Rovers in what’ll prove to be a tough game.
Warne will hope to have all of his players fit and firing by then, and to have his injured players back as soon as possible.
Two players on the sidelines right now are Conor Washington and Tyrese Fornah.
Paul Warne shares Derby County injury update on Conor Washington and Tyrese Fornah
Washington has been in and out of the treatment room since the end of last year.
The striker has had a string of injuries which started with a serious ankle injury that required surgery.
Fornah meanwhile hasn’t featured since April owing to a knee injury, but the midfielder, along with Washington, have both been training with the first-team and the U21s recently.
Both players were absent for the last friendly game vs Barnsley.
Warne told Derbyshire Live: “He [Fornah] has been injured, but he trained with the squad on Monday and then trained with the under-21s on Wednesday because we were prepping for the game at Barnsley as did Conor Washington.
“We need to get him [Fornah] back out on the pitch sooner rather than later.”
Tyrese Fornah facing uphill battle at Derby County
Fornah, 24, remains a player with quality, and at 24 years old he’s someone who still has a lot of potential to improve.
Last season was a stop-start one for him. But now that he’s on the comeback trail, both he and Warne will be hoping that he can have an impact next season.
Following the summer arrival of Adams, Kenzo Goudmijn, and Ben Osborn though, Fornah may find it difficult to break into the Derby XI at first.
Warne will want options ahead of what’ll be a draining Championship campaign, so Fornah may have to settle for a rotational role, and then make sure he takes his chances when it comes his way.
But he certainly remains a good option to have and when he’s back in the fold, it’ll add more competition to a strong-looking midfield department.
Derby County play Valladolid at 3pm on Saturday.