Paul Warne shares ‘sad’ verdict after Derby County star suffers ‘freak’ injury

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On Saturday, Paul Warne was left feeling delighted with Derby County’s win over QPR but one fresh injury concern has since dampened the mood.

Derby enter the second international break of the season in 12th position after winning four of their nine matches.

The Rams recovered from three defeats on the bounce against Sheffield United, Norwich City and Sunderland to comfortably dispatch QPR 2-0.

Paul Warne was blown away by the performance of Curtis Nelson, who scored a bullet header to put Derby in front, while Marcus Harness added a second, much to the delight of the fans.

Warne was left elated off the pitch, too, as it was confirmed midfielder David Ozoh would return to the squad during the international break.

While Ozoh’s return handed the Derby boss a boost at the start of the week, he was also left saddened by an injury to one of his other signings.

• READ MORE: Two Derby County stars including ‘unbelievable’ ace named in the Championship’s Team of the Week

Tawanda Chirewa suffers ‘freak’ Derby County injury

Tawanda Chirewa joined on loan from Wolves this summer but the 20-year-old is still yet to properly settle in and showcase his talent.

The attacking midfielder suffered concussion while on international duty with Zimbabwe and in turn, missed the win over Cardiff City and defeat to Sheffield United.

Chirewa then came off the bench in the 3-2 defeat to Norwich and looked exciting but he failed to translate such a display in the loss to Sunderland, with Chirewa branded as ‘careless’.

Sadly, the Wolves loanee won’t get a chance to correct last week’s poor performance as the youngster has suffered a ‘freak’ injury in one leg between his squad and will be out between four and eight weeks, according to Warne.

“Tawanda has a freak injury in one leg between the quads,” Warne said as per Derbyshire Live. “Even our physios say there is not much literature on it and it is a bit of a freak one. He’s between four and eight weeks and that’s sad.”

Chirewa joins Ben Osborn and Jake Rooney on the injury table, although Osborn is set to return to full fitness after the international break.

• READ MORE: Paul Warne praises ‘unbelievable performer’ for what he did for Derby County against QPR

What games could Tawanda Chirewa miss for Derby County

Luckily for Warne, he’s blessed with options in attacking positions such as Kayden Jackson, Nathaniel Mendez Laing and Corey Blackett-Taylor.

Derby should cope fine with the injury to Chirewa however, his latest setback will keep him out for between four and eight weeks.

That could see the ‘excellent’ talent miss as many as nine games if he’s set to return at the start of December, including meetings with Hull City and Sheffield Wednesday.

The best case scenario for Chirewa and Warne, though, is the player missing four weeks through injury and that corresponds to five games, as long as he is back by November 6th for the trip to Coventry City.

In what has been an uneventful loan spell so far, Chirewa will want to return with a bang and piece together a solid run of form.