Derby County manager Paul Warne has said that every player will have to ‘fight’ for their place in his starting line up.
The Rams did not play last Saturday due to the international break, so Warne has had two weeks to work with his squad, in preparation for this Saturday’s trip to Shrewsbury Town.
Due to being off, Warne now has a number of players back available, but they will not be able to walk straight back into the team.
Warne gives warning to Derby squad
Warne has given a stark warning to his fringe players and the ones returning from injuries, saying that everyone has to fight for their place in the team, keeping everyone on their toes.
“It isn’t easy, but that’s how football is,” Warne told the club website.
“You try and pick the best eleven players for each game. We’re lucky that we see the players all week and we get a good feel of how we think we should play.
“Everyone has to fight for their place and Wardy (Joe Ward) and Callum (Elder) have to fight to get back in. It keeps the starting eleven on their toes, that’s for sure.
“Previously we’ve had a few occasions where we haven’t made as many changes as I would have liked or should have. Having this amount of players enables us to change things a lot more freely and keeps competition for places and drives standards.”
Warne has more availability
As Warne mentioned, he will now have more players available with the likes of Elder and Ward returning from hernia and knee injuries respectively.
Max Bird returned just before the break, starting two of the Rams’ last three games, including the latest game, a 2-1 win away at Notts County in the EFL Trophy.
Training video has suggested that Ward and Elder may both be competing for the same starting position, too.