Thorne Makes His Rams Return Against Barnsley

George Thorne will pull on the Derby County shirt in a competitive game for the first time since May 2016 in tonight’s Carabao Cup Second Round match against Barnsley, kick-off: 7:45pm.

The midfielder has not played since breaking his leg on the final day of the 2015/16 campaign, but returns as one of 11 changes Gary Rowett has made to the starting line-up that began the stunning 5-0 victory over Hull City on Friday night.

Andre Wisdom also returns to action after missing the win over the Tigers through illness.

Notably, Thorne will partner first-year scholar Max Bird in the middle of the park, with the highly-rated 16-year-old set to make his senior debut this evening at Oakwell.

From back to front, Jonathan Mitchell replaces Scott Carson in goal and will have a defence of Wisdom, Alex Pearce, Jason Shackell and Craig Forsyth playing in front of him.

Thorne and Bird sit in the midfield positions and the pair will have Ikechi Anya, Johnny Russell and Mason Bennett deployed further ahead.

Chris Martin replaces David Nugent to lead the line in South Yorkshire.

Rowett, the Derby manager, has also named Callum Guy, the returning Under-23s midfielder, amongst a vastly experienced substitutes bench, should he need it.

Barnsley: Davies, McCarthy, Jackson, Pinnock, Pearson, Williams, Barnes, Potts, Moncur, Hedges, Bradshaw

Substitutes: Townsend, Lindsay, McGeehan, Hammill, Bird, Thiam, Ugbo

Derby County: Mitchell, Wisdom, Pearce, Shackell, Forsyth; Thorne, Bird; Anya, Russell, Bennett; Martin

Substitutes: Roos, Baird, Keogh, Guy, Lawrence, Vydra, Nugent

Not in attendance at Oakwell this evening? Click here for full details of how you can follow every kick of tonight’s Carabao Cup match with RamsTV.