Rowett Pleased With Duo’s Progress

Gary Rowett was pleased to see George Thorne and Jason Shackell make a big step towards making their Derby County comebacks on Friday.

The duo were named in the starting line-up for Derby’s Under-23s in their Premier League 2 – Division 1 fixture away to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge after lengthy injury lay-offs.

Thorne was playing his first game since breaking his leg against Ipswich Town in May 2016, while Shackell got his first run-out since February after undergoing back surgery.

Thorne played 45 minutes, as planned, while Shackell got an hour under his belt as the duo made significant strides towards returning to first-team contention.

Rowett, the Derby boss, insists they still have plenty more work to get through in the coming weeks an he wants them to get a similar workload to what the rest of his squad got into their legs over the course of pre-season during July.

He has, however, hinted that Shackell could feature in the matchday squad for Tuesday’s re-arranged Carabao Cup First Round tie away to Grimsby Town - given he has been out of action for a shorter period of time compared to Thorne.

The 43-year-old told RamsTV: “They both got game time which was good and pleasing as every player wants to play games and feel valued at the end of the week.

“The plan was to give George a half and with Jason it was the intention that if he felt alright at half-time that we would give him until the hour mark.

“When you look at pre-season the rest of the lads had to go through a couple of 45 minutes, then 90 minutes and lots of running and physical work too; so there’s a lot to do.”

He added: “Jason could be involved at Grimsby on Tuesday and we’ll speak to him and the medical team about that. It could be that it is a better option that playing 90 minutes for the Under-23s on Friday at Pride Park Stadium against Sunderland.

“With George, he will probably play on Friday and build things up gradually.”