Three players have received updates from Derby County head coach Paul Warne in the wake of Wednesday night’s goalless draw away at Wycombe Wanderers.
The Rams’ hopes of making it back to the Championship were further dashed yesterday when they were unable to break the deadlock against Wycombe, a team still reeling from their 2-1 loss to them in the EFL Trophy final at Wembley on Sunday.
Despite controlling 55% of the ball during the match, Warne’s team was unable to muster a single goal in seven attempts at shooting. Starting with top goalscorer James Collins and Conor Washington up top, the Derby manager used every attacking weapon at his disposal. Tom Barkhuizen and Martyn Waghorn were eventually added. Sadly, nobody was able to locate that crucial objective.
Joe Ward was one man the squad was missing. Last week at Fratton Park, the 28-year-old was Derby County’s hero as his brace nearly sealed three points for the Rams before Owen Moxon’s incredible long-range goal salvaged a draw for Portsmouth.
Ward’s first goals of the season came from those two goals on the south coast. The former Peterborough United player was unable to build on this performance, though, as a swollen knee prevented him from playing.
After the game on Wednesday, Warne updated the club media on Ward’s status as well as that of Max Bird and Barkhuizen, both of whom had injury concerns in recent weeks.
“Joe’s [Ward] knee is still swollen and I think we missed him tonight. Whether he will be OK for the weekend, I honestly don’t know yet because he is still sore and his knee is still swollen.
“Birdy is back on the grass and whether he will be available on Saturday, I don’t know. Tom Barkhuizen is back a little bit early, maybe that’s more of a risk then we’d usually take but it’s that stage of the season now.”
Author’s Perspective
The outcome from last night will have a significant impact on the races for the title and automatic promotion. Portsmouth will finally be crowned League One champions if they win their remaining two games against Barnsley and Bolton Wanderers.
Although they still have to play Pompey this weekend, Derby County has now made it more difficult for them to make it back to the second division because Bolton has a game in hand. The Rams need to win their final three games of the season in order to guarantee a spot inside the top two. Regaining players’ fitness will be very beneficial.
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