Ledley To Miss East Midlands Derby

Gary Rowett provided an update on the fitness of Joe Ledley as Derby County get set to take on Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Sunday.

The Wales international suffered a calf injury during the early stages of the 1-1 draw at Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday night.

Although a scan revealed that the damage isn’t as severe as first feared, Rowett will be without Ledley for the East Midlands derby.

He told RamsTV: “Joe has had a scan and it doesn’t seem as bad as was first thought, but he’ll probably still be out for four weeks.

“At this stage of the season, it is a blow, especially with George [Thorne] being out for another two or three weeks, so it leaves us a little bit light, but that’s management and that is the scenario that we’re in.

“We have to deal with it and come out with the best scenario.”

Derby have been fortunate with injuries for the majority of this season, but the knocks have started to pile up in recent weeks.

Ledley and Thorne have now joined long-term absentee Sam Winnall on the sidelines, but Rowett has full confidence in the players that are available for selection as he looks to become the first Derby boss to complete the double over Forest since Nigel Clough in 2012.

He said: “Sometimes you get that at this stage of the season and we seem to have had an extreme version, but maybe it seems that way because we haven’t had too many injuries this season.

“Our record has been really good up to this point, so it’s disappointing, but the reality is that’s why you have a squad of 24 players.

“I don’t think you can ever really plan for it, but we’ll put a side out that will be more than good enough to win any game against any Championship opposition.”