Derby County’s returning international quartet could feature in tomorrow’s pre-season friendly at Sky Bet League 1 side Walsall.

Nigel Pearson’s side will cross the midlands for their first friendly game on English soil ahead of the 2016/17 Championship season.





Richard Keogh, Jeff Hendrick, Cyrus Christie (Republic of Ireland) and Chris Baird (Northern Ireland) reported back for training yesterday after being given time off following their involvement in the 2016 European Championships in June.





Assistant Manager Chris Powell says the players will be assessed closely before a final decision is made on whether or not to include them in the squad for tomorrow’s game.





He admits that there’s temptation to see them return to the fold, but says it is important to make sure the players are in a position to return to match action.





Powell told Rams Player HD: “It’s great to have them back – they should be proud of what they achieved with their countries over the summer.





“They know what this team is about and the Championship as well. We now need to get to know them and likewise, like the rest of the squad have done, they will get to know how we work as a staff.





“They can only make us stronger in the long run.”





In terms of featuring in tomorrow’s game against Walsall, Powell said: “The temptation is there to involve them but we will only do that if they are okay.





“They had a long season last year, with the play-offs and then the European Championships as well. I know it was only in France but they still had plenty of travelling to do.





“If they are involved it will only be after careful consideration.”





Centre-back Jason Shackell, 32, missed the friendly game against Portuguese giants Benfica in Portugal last weekend as a precaution after missing a few days of training in the lead-up to the match with a calf issue.





However, he has been training for the past week and Powell says he is in line to feature at the Banks’s Stadium tomorrow.





“I would say Jason, for sure, will be involved at Walsall,”he said.







“He has looked strong in training. It was a precaution to leave him out against Benfica after missing a few days of training before we flew out to Portugal.





“We felt it would be more beneficial for him to carry on training. As I said, he has looked strong and we’ll look to give him some minutes.”





Jamie Hanson dislocated his shoulder at the end of last season and is being treated carefully, while wideman Abdoul Camara picked up an injury in training in Portugal.





Both players missed the game against Benfica and are being monitored on a daily basis.







“Jamie had a problem with his collarbone at the end of last season,” saidPowell.







“He has been training but we have been careful in terms of contact.





“Abdoul has missed a few days of training now. It has been an intense pre-season and he has a slight knock.





“He is doing some work and if he isn’t involved this weekend then we hope to see him next week.”





Powell says Derby will look to share the minutes around the squad against Walsall.





However, he has admitted that some players are set to get more than 45 minutes under their belts – which was the case for just Andreas Weimann in last weekend’s Algarve Football Cup match against Benfica as part of the week-long pre-season tour of Portugal.





He feels it is important to not only provide the players with match minutes on the pitch, but also mental preparation.







“We will continually look at the players and have them assessed, looking at who is ready to push on and get more time,”he said.







“We balance it, so if a player doesn’t start one game we will try and look at getting them in the team.





“They need to get their preparation right. When you’re a starter, you mentally prepare differently and we want them to go through that.





“At the same time, you want to have an inkling about what you are going to do in the first game.





“We know the Benfica game was 45 minutes each, which it should be. From now, we’ll look at who can increase minutes and who will play a half. We’ll make sure we get it right so the players can do their best for us, themselves and the squad when the season starts.”













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