Derby V Blackpool outs and doubts as Rams are hit with injury crisis ahead of Good Friday game

The Rams currently sit in the top two, and will be hoping to bounce back from their 1-0 defeat to Northampton Town at the weekend to further cement their position. Meanwhile, the Seasiders occupy ninth place and face a battle with a number of other teams to claim the final spot in the League One play-offs- with just seven games remaining.

Paul Warne’s side face a number of injury problems ahead of this Friday’s fixture, and could be without up to 12 players.

The latest name added to their list of concerns is Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, who was forced off with a hamstring problem on Saturday afternoon, making him a doubt to face Blackpool. Derby will be hoping for good news concerning the winger, who has scored eight goals and provided 16 assists in the league this season.

Elsewhere, Max Bird has missed a number of recent matches due to a calf injury, with the game against the Seasiders set to come too soon for the Rams vice-captain, while Craig Forsyth is absent with the same problem and could miss the remainder of the campaign, alongside with Ryan Nyambe- who has been ruled out with a quad muscle issue.

Both Dwight Gayle and Tom Barkhuizen were taken off in the Rams’ recent win over Bolton, and are scheduled to be out for the next three weeks.

James Collins is set to return to training this week, but will most likely not be ready for the game, while it could be a similar story for Tyreece John-Jules, who is back on the grass after a hamstring problem.

Long-term absentee Jake Rooney is making progress in his recovery from anterior cruciate ligament damage which he sustained back in September, and could make a return to training before the conclusion of the campaign.

Elsewhere, Tyrese Fornah remains a doubt following his recent spell on the sidelines, and caution will be taken over goalkeeper Josh Vickers after his absence in the last few matches with a thigh problem.

Sonny Bradley can also be thrown into the list of absentees for Friday, after he received a straight red card and subsequent three-match ban in the latter stages of the Rams’ defeat to Northampton.

Meanwhile, Blackpool have injury concerns of their own. In their final outing before the international break, Jordan Rhodes was forced off with a knee injury during the first half of the 1-0 defeat to Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium. After initially going down in the 17th minute, the Huddersfield Town loanee had tried to continue, but ultimately had to subbed shortly after.

The full extent of the problem is still to be confirmed ahead of the trip to Pride Park, but the early signs didn’t look good immediately after the impact of the contact.

Prior to the game against Wigan, Rhodes had only featured in the two games prior following his return from a rib injury that kept him out for over a month.

Elsewhere, Albie Morgan (knee) and James Husband (thigh) have both been absent for various lengths of time in the past month, but should be getting closer to making a return to action. Whether Good Friday comes too soon for the pair is yet to be seen, but based on the original timeframes given, they shouldn’t be too far away beyond that.

The only confirmed long-term absentee at the moment is Andy Lyons, who suffered an ACL injury against Leyton Orient at the end of February.