Stephen Pearson is 'on course' in his rehabilitation after undergoing knee surgery in April.

The Scottish international had carried the knee problem during the second half of last season.

As a result, he went under the knife in April after consulting a specialist.

At the time of his operation he was ruled out for around four months, and he is expected to miss the first six weeks of the new season.

Rams physio Neil Sullivan explained to dcfc.co.uk: "Stephen had the operation back in April and is 'as expected' at this stage.

"Stephen recently got married and went on his honeymoon, so I haven't seen him for a few weeks but we will assess him this week and see where he is at."

Another player working hard on his rehabilitation is defender Miles Addison.

Derby's England U21 star had a foot operation towards the end of the season, ruling him out for a considerable amount of time.

Manager Nigel Clough admitted it would be unlikely to see Addison in first-team contention until the closing stages of the 2010/11 campaign.

Sullivan added: "Miles is at Moor Farm on a regular basis and is working hard.

"He's on schedule at the moment, so we're happy so far."