3/1 To Win
Gary Rowett has confirmed that Curtis Davies and Marcus Olsson should return to training ahead of Derby County’s Sky Bet Championship encounter with Bristol City on Saturday.
The pair were rested for the midweek Carabao Cup Second Round match with Barnsley after sustaining minor injuries in the 5-0 victory over Hull City last Friday.
After completing a light training session on Wednesday, though, the pair are expected to return to full training today.
Rowett told the media: “Everyone should be ok. You have to balance off those demands as a manger and take that decision with the amount of games we have got.
“Hopefully Curtis (Davies) will train today, I think Olss (Marcus Olsson) will train too given that they both did light sessions on Wednesday. They should be ok. Everyone else will be fine.”
Rowett also spoke about George Thorne during his pre-match press conference.
The 24-year-old midfielder made his first competitive appearance in over a year in the Rams’ cup defeat to Barnsley on Tuesday night and played the full 90 minutes.
As the player said himself, Rowett feels Thorne still has a long way to go before he fully rediscovers his match fitness and sharpness.
However, the Derby boss did say that the midfielder is ‘fit and available’ and should be needed for tactical reasons, he will have no hesitation in including him.
Rowett said: “I spoke to George about this, particularly after the setback he had quite early on in pre-season.
“My opinion is that we need to slow down this thirst to just get George back out on the pitch. With George, because he is such a talented player, there’s been a previous intention to just get George back out on the pitch.
“Maybe that has contributed to some of his injuries. I don’t know for sure. For me it was different.
“For me, I have said let’s build up his resilience for a month and put him through extra training sessions, which he has done diligently, and extra games for the Under-23s and then more training sessions so that he has a chance of staying in the team.
“The Barnsley game was a start, but we have to follow the plan – just as we do with Craig Forsyth.
“It’s going to take a build of time to build up that match fitness and match sharpness.
“If we feel George, for tactical reasons, should be in the 18 then he will be. He’s fit and available for selection, but that’s not the end of the process.”
