Derby hopeful that midfielder will be fit for Saturday's FA Cup tie against Chesterfield.

Derby hopeful that midfielder will be fit for Saturday's FA Cup tie against Chesterfield.

Derby County hope to have midfielder Will Hughes available for this weekend’s FA Cup Fourth Round tie against Chesterfield.

The 19-year-old England Under 21 international had to be replaced at half-time during Derby’s 2-1 home defeat to Nottingham Forest last weekend, after picking up a knock in the first half of the local derby at the iPro Stadium.

However, First Team Coach Paul Simpson says the injury is unlikely to keep him out of Saturday’s Cup clash with the Spireites.

He told Rams Player: “Will got a kick early on in the game just above his knee and we hope that he’ll be alright to train towards the end of the week.





“We have a few bumps and bruises from Saturday and that’s normal; by the end of the week we hope to have more or less a full quota of players training and preparing for Saturday’s game.”

Derby welcomed two fresh faces into their squad earlier this week on the training ground.

Defenders Stephen Warnock and Raul Albentosa trained with the rest of the first-team for the first time on Monday after joining the Club last week.

Warnock arrived from Leeds United last Thursday while Albentosa joined from Spanish side Eibar last Friday.

Both players watched on from the stands during Derby’s defeat to Forest but could feature against Chesterfield, with Albentosa awaiting international clearance before he can be involved in a competitive fixture.

Simpson explained: “It’s good to have them in the group and they’ve both settled in really well.





“It is perhaps a little bit more difficult for Raul because of the language barrier but we are very fortunate to have Omar Mascarell and Ivan Calero in the squad who are from Spain.





“We also have Alessandro Schoenmaker (Head of Sports Science) who speaks fluent Spanish and that also helps in terms of Raul becoming comfortable and settled.”

Watch more from Paul Simpson in an exclusive interview on Rams Player.





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