Paul Warne has revealed that Derby County have suffered yet another injury problem.
Derby County were left worried during the first half of their win over Charlton Athletic, with Nathaniel Mendez-Laing forced off after picking up a foot injury prior to scoring the only goal of the game.
The winger was replaced by Tom Barkhuizen shortly before half-time, while Paul Warne has since expressed his concern over the possibility of Mendez-Laing breaking his foot.
With the 31-year-old joining the likes of Tyreece John-Jules and Martyn Waghorn on the sidelines, Derby County could now have another injury problem to add to the list.
Corey Blackett-Taylor joined the Rams last month and has only made one start for the Rams and was set to reunite with Charlton Athletic at the weekend, however he was left out of the match-day squad all together.
Warne has now explained the attacker’s absence after their win at The Valley. Speaking to Derbyshire Live, he said: “He felt his groin in training on Monday and he hasn’t trained enough since to be a part of it.
“Weirdly, I had no intention of playing him here because I just didn’t think he’d have a good game after just joining us from Charlton.
“I thought it may become too much, so we didn’t rush anything this week and hopefully he will join back in with the group next week.”
Can Derby County deal with their injury problems?
Corey Blackett-Taylor joins Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Conor Washington, Martyn Waghorn, Tyreece John-Jules, Jake Rooney and Craig Forsyth on the treatment table and leaves Derby County with very few options up top.
Hopefully he returns in time for Saturday’s meeting with Shrewsbury Town, as the Rams are going to need to get back to their goalscoring best if they are to retain their position in League One’s top two.
Derby have only managed three goals in the last four games, compared to the eleven in the four prior.
Thankfully the team still have James Collins to rely on, with the striker netting eight goals in all competitions this season.
However, Derby’s failure to bring in a new forward in January could leave them in big trouble if Collins picked up an injury too.
The Rams will have to delve into the free agent market now if they want to give themselves the best chance to win promotion.