Paul Warne had an unwelcome reality check when he took his promotion-winning side to Blackburn for the opening day of the 2024/25 Championship season.
Derby County lost 4-2 to Blackburn Rovers, with a number of key issues in their squad highlighted during the game.
The Rams are now set to face Middlesbrough in the Championship on Saturday but before that, welcomed Chesterfield to Pride Park for a League Cup tie.
It was a solid showing from the newly promoted outfit, who picked up a 2-1 win.
Craig Forsyth impressed for Derby versus Chesterfield and could now have earned himself a place in the eleven for the weekend.
Goalscorer Liam Thompson was blown away by Dajaune Brown on Tuesday as well after the 18-year-old set him up for the home side’s equalising goal.
Richie Barker gives hilarious response to Derby County issue
As is becoming the norm in England, assistant managers are being given more responsibility for League Cup games.
Derby are no exception, with Richie Barker taking a prominent role in the dugout and in the post-match media duties on Tuesday.
After seeing his side beat Chesterfield, Barker provided an injury update on Ebou Adams and Corey Blackett-Taylor, confirming the pair should be back on the grass this week.
At the end of that interview with BBC Sport, Barker was asked if Derby’s goalkeeper situation will be solved before Saturday and gave a hilarious response.
He said: “I honestly don’t know. If I’m being brutally honest, I honestly don’t know. If I’m honest I’m not interested in goalkeepers, they just spoil the game, don’t they.”
When will Derby County sign a goalkeeper
Derby have been in the market for a new goalkeeper since Joe Wildsmith left the club as a free agent earlier this year.
The club have been linked with plenty of names but have finally found a replacement for Wildsmith.
Derby agreed a deal with Swedish outfit Djurgardens to sign Jacob Widell Zetterstrom last month but the shot-stopper is still yet to move to England.
The reason for this is a condition of the deal was that Zetterstorm would be allowed to stay at his current side for their Europa Conference League qualifiers.
Luckily for Derby fans, the 26-year-old is set to play his final match for Djurgardens on Thursday before finally moving to England.
But as Barker suggested above, it is still not known if Zetterstorm will be able to feature against Middlesbrough on Saturday, August 17th.
