Nigel Clough says Jake Buxton is mentally strong enough to recover from the disappointment that he will miss the start of Derby County's 2010/11 season.

The defender is undergoing groin surgery today, ruling him out of action for around six weeks.

But Clough knows that the defender is a strong character who will work hard to return to full fitness as soon as possible.

"Jake will miss the bulk of pre-season and he will have an awful lot of work to do," Clough explained to Rams Player today.

"He will probably be running around the parks on his own; but he is mentally strong enough to get back.

"It is hard doing the rehab work on your own and your own pre-season, but Jake will be fine although I know he is gutted to be missing the start of the season."

Clough admits the timing of the operation is less than ideal, but conceded that nothing could have been done to speed up the process.

He explained: "It has been a difficult problem to diagnose, hence the lateness of this operation.

"People may ask why we are having the operation done now, but it is because no-one has been able to diagnose the exact nature of the problem.

"We have been trying since late April to get to the bottom of it, and it has only been in the last few days we've found out what the problem actually is.

"It has been a tricky one between his groin and his stomach, but we're there now and hopefully the operation will cure it."

Look out for an exclusive interview with Nigel Clough on Rams Player later today.