Derby County are in a good vein of form right now. And the recent return of one individual could keep the Rams on this upwards trajectory.
Derby County won all four of their League One games in November to move up into 6th place of the table.
It comes after an inconsistent first period which saw the Rams loitering just outside the play-off places early on, but Paul Warne‘s side look to be in good shape going into what is a congested festive period.
And the recent return of summer signing Joe Ward could prove to be a huge boost to Derby County’s play-off credentials this season.
Joe Ward returns after injury lay-off
Ward, 28, missed more than two months of football through injury, returning as a late substitute in the defeat vs Stevenage at the end of October.
Since, Warne has been reintroducing him slowly, handing him just his first start since returning from injury in the last EFL Trophy outing vs Fleetwood Town.
And Ward impressed; he provided a beautiful assist for James Collins’ second goal of that 3-0 win, giving Warne a bit of a selection headache ahead of a return to league action tomorrow.
Ward was previously at Peterborough United for five-and-a-half seasons, scoring seven and assisting nine in his last, and earning high praise from Posh boss Darren Ferguson who said of Ward:
“He was a fantastic servant for many years. He was bought when I wasn’t here and then I worked with him for a while.”
Derby County with options on the right
With Ward back, Warne now has some good options to deploy in a more attacking role on the right, with the impressive Kane Wilson having a good season so far.
Ward though may be able to offer more in the way of goal contributions than Wilson.
Last season in League One, Ward proved himself to be one of the best right-sided players and crossers of the ball in the division, like Ferguson says, and Ward showed against Fleetwood the quality he can offer on the wing.
It’s a nice problem for Warne to have, and it may mean Wilson dropping back a bit deeper so that Ward can play in front of him, or we could yet see a gradual change in shape for the Rams with Warne surely eager to fit all his best players into one system.
After a tough start, things look to be coming together for Derby County and Warne.
The return of Tyreece John-Jules coincides with Ward’s return and it gives Warne two quality players ahead of the season half of the season, with both almost like new signings for the Rams.
It’ll be interesting to see if Ward starts against Leyton Orient tomorrow, and to see if he can cement a place in the XI going forward.