3/1 To Win
Gary Rowett provided an update on the fitness of Matej Vydra as Derby County prepare in the snow for the visit of Fulham in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday.
Vydra – the top scorer in the division with 17 goals – missed the Rams’ trip to the Madejski Stadium to face Reading last week with a groin injury.
Rowett says that whilst it’s a possibility that Vydra could return to training in the coming days, he will continue to be assessed ahead of the clash with the Cottagers at Pride Park Stadium.
He told RamsTV: “We don’t want to make a call too early, but we’re going to see today [Thursday] whether he will have a chance of training or whether he will have to spend another day with the physios.
“Tomorrow [Friday] will be the same scenario and then we’ll have a call to make, as to whether it’s worth the gamble.
“There are a lot of boxes that need ticking, but he’s our top scorer and you want to give him the chance to prove that he is available.”
Preparations have been taken an interesting twist over the last few days, with the weather conditions leaving most of the pitches at the Training Centre in partnership with the University of Derby unplayable.
Rowett explained how planning for Saturday’s game has progressed as a result.
He said: “It was quite interesting when we trained on Tuesday, we started out on a beautiful green pitch, and 10 minutes later it was just pure snow on the ground! I’ve never seen anything like it.
“It’s been a funny week, it’s always the same when the weather is like this, you end up not being able to prepare quite as well as you normally would.
“The players have trained in poor conditions before but the issue is the quality of the work that you can do.
“We’ll do a little bit more work in the video room, and you just prepare in different ways.
“You’ve just got to get on with it, we’ve all been here before, we will lose a little bit of preparation but it could be a lighter week, and hopefully we will feel the benefits on the Saturday.”
