Derby have an unchanged squad for their crunch clash with Hull
Derby have an unchanged squad for the visit of fellow promotion hopefuls Hull but have been dealt an injury blow with news regarding Jeff Hendrick.
Hendrick missed the defeat at Cardiff on Saturday with a thigh injury sustained in training last week but Rams head coach Darren Wassall revealed at his pre-match press conference on Monday that the Republic of Ireland international will remain absent for the "next few games" after scans showed a small tear in the muscle.
Some good news for Derby, sixth in the table and five points behind Hull, is that fellow midfielder Will Hughes is now very close to first-team contention after working his way back to fitness following the serious knee injury he suffered on the opening day of this campaign.
Wassall has the likes of Cyrus Christie, Darren Bent, Johnny Russell, Nick Blackman and Andreas Weimann to call on should he wish to make any changes to his starting line up.
Hull have not given up on automatic promotion after returning to form with a 4-0 victory against Bristol City - a game they came through with no new problems.
Isaac Hayden, on loan from Arsenal, could be back in the squad after a knee injury but fellow midfielder Nick Powell will miss a fifth match because of his hamstring issue.
City boss Steve Bruces, whose side are four points behind second-placed Middlesbrough, could name an unchanged team but has options should he feel like tweaking things.
Striker Abel Hernandez and midfielders Shaun Maloney and David Meyler were on the bench at the weekend following their return from international duty while Ahmed Elmohamady provides Bruce with another strong alternative.
Source: PAR
