3/1 To Win
Derby County have no fresh injury concerns ahead of Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship clash at Norwich City (12:30pm kick-off).
Derby will take on the Canaries at Carrow Road in their final fixture before the October international break comes into play.
Striker Martyn Waghorn, winger Tom Lawrence and midfielder Krystian Bielik remain out of action due to injury but the trio are all making good progress in their rehabilitation work.
Midfielder Max Bird picked up a knock in last weekend’s home defeat against Blackburn Rovers but resumed training on Thursday and is set to be in contention to face Norwich.
Speaking to RamsTV ahead of Saturday’s game Cocu said: “There’s nothing new on the injury front for this weekend.
“Martyn Waghorn is still in the individual part of his rehabilitation, but he is improving, though.
“He needs some time, as does Tom Lawrence who can maybe start doing parts of the group sessions next week.
“That would be a huge step for him to be away from the one-on-one sessions and getting into a team environment.”
Recent signing Jordon Ibe is still building up his sharpness after signing for the club last week and will not be involved in the squad this weekend.
The pacey winger joined the Rams as a free agent after leaving AFC Bournemouth in the close-season and, having not played a competitive game for over a year, Cocu says the 24-year-old needs time to get back to full speed.
He said: “Jordon needs some time. He trained by himself while he was without a club, but to train within a group is very different.
“He needs to train at a high intensity again because we don’t want to accelerate it too fast and bump into an injury. We have seen his individual quality in training already so, with his quality, he will benefit the team in the long run.
“At this time, we have to monitor Jordon closely with what kind of load can he cope with. We want to push him, but not cross the line too far. He feels good and he is enjoying himself getting integrated with the team and getting to know his team-mates.”
Polish international midfielder Bielik sustained a long-term knee injury in January of this year whilst in action for the Under-23s.
Bielik has been stepping up his workload in recent weeks but Cocu has stressed that patience will be required as he works his way back to full fitness after such a lengthy spell out of action.
“Krystian Bielik has been training for some time,” he said.
“Sometimes he gets small pains, but after such a long time out that is normal.
“He is getting better and better. He feels stronger and moves well. He is an important player for us so hopefully he can join us in the games soon.”
