Derby County finally registered their first away win of the season in midweek as they beat Coventry in a tense 2-1 victory.
Jerry Yates opened the scoring for the Rams inside the first ten minutes before his cross deflected into the net in the second half to double the lead.
An effort from range by Tatsuhiro Sakamoto crept beyond the outstretched hand of Jacob Widell Zetterstrom to give the Sky Blues a chance back in the game.
Derby held firm though and registered a huge victory to help boost their Championship survival hopes.
Next up is a clash against Plymouth Argyle at Pride Park, a game Paul Warne will be keen to win to send his side into the international break in some fine form.
After Kane Wilson’s return to the bench against Coventry, there was some other mixed news on the injury front coming out of the CBS Arena.
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Derby County injury update for Callum Elder and Ben Osborn
There was some mixed injury news coming from the midweek clash as Ben Osborn missed out on the tie, while Callum Elder was substituted at halftime with an injury issue.
Derby boss Warne gave an update on the pair when speaking to RamsTV after the game, stating: “A bit of a doubt [for Callum Elder against Plymouth Argyle], a very big doubt really…”
While it appears to be another blow for the Australian full-back, the manager continued on his options at left-back: “Fozzy [Craig Forsyth] is great and I’ve got no issue with that and I can play Ozzy [Ben Osborn] there at the weekend as well, he can play left-back if needs be.”
It suggests that while one player in Elder is out, there is a return on the cards for Osborn to the matchday squad.
The international break may be coming at an ideal time for the fitness of the team, with the length of the issue to their left-back currently unknown.
Meanwhile, players have had to manage minutes this season, with Warne already dropping Kenzo Goudmijn against Stoke to fight fatigue, while Osborn’s injury troubles have left him managing his own body.
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Paul Warne faces Derby County tactical dilemma
With Elder likely to miss the tie, there are questions over which setup Warne opts for against Plymouth on Saturday.
While a 3-4-1-2 was deployed to get a balance between defending and attacking away from home, Derby have been better at Pride Park with a back four.
The issue with going to that is Forsyth may not offer the same attacking threat, while Osborn isn’t a natural fit there either.
Add to that the fact Eiran Cashin will miss the game through suspension and it becomes tough to decide between the back three or four.
Either way, it could be vitally important to Derby’s survival hopes that they take a positive result away from the visit of Argyle, leading to some important decisions ahead.