Paul Warne gives update on six Derby County injury concerns ahead of Millwall clash

Add as preferred source on Google

After the second international break of the season, Derby County return to action with a trip to the capital, taking on Millwall.

The Rams have enjoyed a decent start to the Championship campaign, picking up four wins from their opening nine games.

Paul Warne will be hopeful of racking up some more wins before the next stoppage in the season next month.

That will include picking up points away from home, something Derby have failed to do so far back in the second tier.

While the fixture list has included tricky tests on the road against Sheffield United and Sunderland, a trip to The Den presents an opportunity to open their account on the travels.

• READ MORE: The Derby County and Millwall stats that could decide crunch Championship clash for Paul Warne

Derby County injury latest ahead of Millwall

Heading into the international break, the Derby manager was starting to see the injury issues pile up, with some tweaks required to keep the team competitive.

As many as six stars could be available once again for Warne when his side travels to Millwall, though some load management may be required.

Speaking ahead of the game to RamsTV, he said: “Callum[Elder] joined in training on Tuesday, so he needs some minutes, Ozzy [Ben Osborn] has trained for a couple of days this week.

“With David [Ozoh], we were hopeful he would be available for this weekend – we’re not sure he will be but he’s really close.”

Meanwhile, the likes of Liam Thompson, Tom Barkhuizen and the returning Jake Rooney have started to pick up minutes with the under-21s, featuring against Aldershot Town in the National League Cup earlier in the week.

“Tommo [Thompson] and Tom [Barkhuizen] played 45 minutes, Jake [Rooney] played more but he still has a little way to go.”

It leaves some uncertainty over the fitness of Sonny Bradley and Tawanda Chirewa – with the pair also missing out on the previous clash against QPR.

However, on the whole, Derby could see their team back to full strength for an important run of fixtures ahead.

Whether any of them will be risked for the trip to Millwall remains to be seen though.

• READ MORE: Paul Warne must unleash ‘magnificent’ Derby County ace to expose key Millwall weakness

Derby County fixture run before the November international break

Derby have some key fixtures before the next break in the calendar, which will be important in setting them up for success.

With just two home games and four away games in their next six, it shows the importance of picking up some points on the road.

Ozoh will be a huge boost to those chances, with the Crystal Palace loanee’s strength and physicality lending itself well to those tricky away ties.

The quality of Elder and Osborn will help, while the willing endeavour of Barkhuizen, Thompson and Rooney only strengthens the options at Warne’s disposal.