Source: PA
Barker to sit out start
Shaun Barker will miss Derby`s first three pre-season fixtures as he continues to recover from knee surgery.
The influential defender went under the knife at the end of last season. He will not feature against Burton on Saturday and will also sit-out two games on the five-day tour to the south east next week.
Barker is training, but not with the rest of the squad, and the club insists his absence is merely a precautionary measure.
"Shaun will probably join in with the squad next week when we are down south. We are just being careful with him after the operation he had in May," Rams manager Nigel Clough told the Derby Telegraph.
"We don't want him doing too much pounding on the hard ground at the moment because the last thing we want is for it to flare up again. But even now, Shaun is working as hard as the other lads.
"Fortunately, he is one of those players who can keep ticking over in training and yet still play at a high level. He showed us that at times last season."
