Derby County’s assistant head coach has confirmed that a key player’s fitness is doubtful for the clash against Wycombe Wanderers.
Derby County had a rare weekend off as they watched Bolton Wanderers close the gap on them to just a point by beating Bristol Rovers 2-0.
It means that, while the Rams are holding onto second position by a thread, they face a nail-biting race to the finish with plenty of twists and turns anticipated.
Paul Warne‘s men travel to Wycombe Wanderers on Wednesday night knowing they can establish a four-point lead on Bolton before they host leaders Portsmouth on Saturday.
Derby are in the driving seat for promotion, but only just, and anything other than three points against Wycombe could see the promotion pendulum swing once more.
Warne’s injury table has been overflowing throughout this campaign and the 50-year-old currently has nine players out injured however, Max Bird and Tom Barkhuizen could return to the squad tomorrow night.
It isn’t all good news in that regard, with assistant head coach Richie Barker confirming one of Warne’s first-team stars could be out of contention.
Richie Barker confirms one Derby County player ‘will be assessed’ ahead of Wycombe
Derby secured an excellent point against Portsmouth thanks to a brace from Joe Ward a week ago.
The 28-year-old was lauded as “magnificent” for his performance by commentator Aaron McClean and was a nuisance for Pompey to deal with down the right.
Having shown the best of his ability at Pride Park, his place in the starting XI was guaranteed, but that has now been put in jeopardy by Richie Barker’s latest comments.
As cited by the Derby Telegraph: “The hero of last Tuesday’s 2-2 draw at Portsmouth had to come off in the second half after picking up a knock to his knee. Richie Barker confirmed that he will be assessed again ahead of the game at Wycombe.”
Who would replace Joe Ward vs Wycombe?
Warne will have to reshuffle his attack if Ward isn’t fit enough to play a part against Wycombe.
The likely option for the Derby boss will be to move Nathaniel Mendez-Laing to the right flank, where Ward operated against Pompey while putting Conor Washington centrally.
An injury to the former Peterborough star would be a huge loss however, Mendez-Laing can fill that void on the wing having supplied 16 assists this term with Washington partnering James Collins.
Hopefully, Ward’s assessment comes back positive and he’s fit enough to play, otherwise, Warne will consider the above changes as Derby aim to strengthen their grip on second.
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