Paul Warne issues injury update ahead of Derby County clash against Cambridge United | OneFootball

Paul Warne is set to oversee his first game in charge of Derby County this weekend and in terms of injuries for his new side, the boss doesn’t have to deal with too much currently.

Speaking to Derbyshire Live about who could be available for the fixture against Cambridge United, he revealed that it will be business as usual in terms of who won’t be available and that boils down to three names – Korey Smith, Jake Rooney, and Joseph Anang.

The former of those three was snapped up on a deal by the Rams over the summer, with Swansea allowing him to leave after falling down the pecking order in Wales. He managed just 21 starts for the club last season and it led to a drop down to League One and to Derby.

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This year, he has also only featured in five games so far and he is currently out with an injury that will mean he spends even more time on the sidelines. Rooney is another new boy to link up with the Rams from Burnley and their reserve team but he has yet to make his mark in the league. He’s not played a single minute of action yet and that comes partly down to a thigh issue that he is dealing with.

Finally, for Anang, he too has yet to get any League One action for Derby. They do have other goalkeepers above him in the pecking order but he has also had to work through an injury to regain match fitness. None of those three will be available for selection then – but apart from that trio, it seems there could be a clean slate in terms of injuries.

Speaking about it, Warne said: “Whoever was injured is still injured – that’s probably the quickest way I can tell you. There’s been no change. Korey Smith is injured, Jake Rooney and Joseph Anang are out. They are the only three.”

The Verdict

Warne has pretty much got free rein over who he can choose to play in his first game against Cambridge at the weekend.

Smith is perhaps the only one of the three who might have got some minutes under his belt this weekend for Derby if he was fit but the other two are not guaranteed to feature at all. It’s mainly good news for Rams fans and their new boss to hear that most of the main squad are fit.

It means that Warne can now really get stuck into the swing of things and pick a team pretty much entirely to his liking from the majority of the squad. It will allow the former Rotherham boss to see who he likes and doesn’t and help him to settle on his favoured starting eleven.

It gives the boss a good chance of picking up his first win at the weekend for Derby.