Darren Bent, Mason Bennett and Jamie Hanson are this week set to step up their Derby County comebacks.
The trio have spent the majority of the campaign on the sidelines due to injury but have recently returned to training.
Bent suffered a hamstring injury in July which required surgery, while Bennett and Hanson picked up early season injuries to hamper their progress.
After returning to training recently, the trio could be in line to turn out for Derby’s Under-23s against Leicester City at Pride Park Stadium on Friday evening (7pm) in Premier League 2.
Hanson was an unused substitute in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Fulham after Andre Wisdom missed out due to family reasons, but remains in need of match time.
Rowett explained: “It’s been great to see Darren Bent, Mason Bennett and Jamie Hanson all back in training.
“They all came back at a similar time and, having spoken to the medical team, the plan has been to give them some more training time with a view to playing for the Under-23s next week.
“The thought was to maybe get them involved at West Ham United on Friday but we aren’t in a rush with them, although they will be desperate to get back, and we have to be sensible with them.
“All of those players have been out for a while and Jamie Hanson had a relapse with his calf, so we have to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Jason Shackell remains sidelined with a calf injury and Rowett believes the defender is ‘a week or so away’ from returning to a game situation.
