Derby County are preparing to travel to Blackburn Rovers for the first game of their Championship campaign.
Derby struggled for results and performances in pre-season, suffering defeats against Chesterfield, Stockport and Barnsley, but did round off their schedule with a 2-1 win over Real Valladolid.
The scoreline wasn’t the only negative to come from their warm-up matches as multiple injury concerns have arisen.
The injury Jake Rooney sustained on the trip to Marbella has left options incredibly light in defence while it was also confirmed that wingers Corey Blackett-Taylor and Joe Ward would be kept out of the season opener.
Paul Warne had to contend with a raft of injury troubles last term and recent concerns have only reinforced the need to strengthen his squad with added depth.
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Ebou Adams and Ryan Nyambe ‘haven’t trained’ ahead of Blackburn Rovers opener
In Warne’s pre-match press conference ahead of their trip to Ewood Park on Friday night, it was confirmed by journalist Dominic Dietrich that Ward ‘still has a sore knee’ and will miss the game.
Although a further update wasn’t provided on Blackett-Taylor’s fitness, he did reveal that midfielder Ebou Adams and right-back Ryan Nyambe ‘haven’t trained for a couple of days’.
But luckily for Derby, though, Dietrich claims they ‘should be ready for Friday’ and that is music to the ears of Rams supporters.
With not the strongest squad to choose from, despite adding six new signings, Warne can ill-afford to go into the first game with multiple injury casualties.
How Derby can get off to a winning start vs Blackburn
In pre-season, Derby have set up in their usual 3-4-1-2 formation with their wing-backs pushing high up the pitch and the front two stretching defences.
The Rams will look to soak up the pressure from Blackburn, who play a possession-based style and play on the counter-attack.
With Adams and Ozoh sitting in front of the back three, that duo can give the creative Kenzo Goudmijn the license to pull the strings.
Warne will hope the 22-year-old can fashion opportunities for his teammates, or send the ball in behind for the pacey Kayden Jackson and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing to latch on to.
Derby’s game plan will be to catch Rovers on the break by turning over possession quickly and committing bodies forward.
Further, the Rams boss will encourage his wing-backs to bomb forward and supply ammunition into the box.
Warne will know that Derby can’t match the hosts for keeping long spells of possession but they are fantastic at hitting teams on the break, and that could be where they find joy at Ewood Park.