Derby County will include five players from their academy for tomorrow’s FA Cup clash against Leyton Orient after illness impacted the first-team squad.
Head coach Paul Warne conducted his pre-match press conference via a video link as a precautionary measure. Several players and staff have been struggling and that has led Warne to turn to some of Derby’s fledgling stars after consulting academy manager Matt Hale. Warne stopped short of naming the five players who would be included in the squad but says they have deserved the opportunity.
“I am taking five academy lads for tomorrow. I’ve watched the youth team play and we’ve had a few train with us on random days. I spoke to Matt Hale, the academy manager, to say these are the ones we like, do you agree? Because in fairness, if their attitude hasn’t been good, or they’ve been turning up late etc, he might say it doesn’t send a good message if he’s this or that.
“But I want to make sure they are the players and the characters we think they are. The ones we have picked he agreed with which was good. One of them has been working with Matt Hamshaw a lot. He came in over Christmas for a two or three-week spell, and he’s done really well and deserves a crack around the team.
“He’s been training with us quite a lot. They aren’t strangers to the group. The lads know them all really well because they are usually fighting with them in the dinner queue. They deserve a chance. It’s not a charity. I need them and I hope if I am given a chance to, I won’t have any reluctance in bringing them on.”
On illness affecting the squad, Warne added: “It’s nothing too dramatic. We’ve got a bit of illness in the camp. We’ve got a few players missing, a few staff missing and a few players under the weather. The decision was made on my behalf to do it this way (press conference). I don’t want people to think we’ve returned to Covid times, but we’ve just had a lot of illness.
“It has affected who will play tomorrow, but in fairness, if you take that away, things always affect your plans and you might pick up injuries etc. I said after the Bristol City game that we had illness in the camp and it hasn’t really gone. There is sort of a hangover from the last 10 days and it’s taken a new lease of life this week.”
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