Derby County: Paul Warne confirms bittersweet David Ozoh update pre-Millwall | OneFootball

The talented teen is set for more time on the sidelines.

Derby County manager Paul Warne has said that David Ozoh is likely to miss this weekend's game against Millwall.

Derby's encouraging start to the season has given themselves a decent gap to those nearer the bottom. They have won four and lost five heading into their game against the Lions, who have racked up a few less points than them after nine games.

The main aim for County is to stay up. The owner, David Clowes, is looking to bring in a fresh injection of cash into the club in order to help them maintain their standing as a Championship side, and is willing to let go of up to 80% of his shareholdings in order to do so, according to The Telegraph.

Despite Clowes' reservations about whether he himself would be able to fund a competitive Championship budget for the Rams, long-term, they went and did some strong business in the summer to get the squad ready for their new second tier challenge.

Part of that business was getting rid of the older, out-of-contract players in the summer and refreshing the squad with new, younger blood for the manager to work with.

The majority of their summer acquisitions, most notably Kenzo Goudmijn, Kayden Jackson and David Ozoh, have been strong contributors for Warne, although the latter of that trio's minutes have been restricted due to injury. He's only made five appearances for the club since joining on loan from Crystal Palace.

There was hope that Ozoh would be in contention to feature against Millwall this weekend, but it looks like the trip to the Den is going to come just a little too soon for the 19-year-old.

David Ozoh likely to miss Millwall match

The Derby boss has stated that it's unlikely that the midfielder will be able to be involved this weekend. Ozoh hasn't played since September 14th, when County managed to eke out a 1-0 victory over Cardiff City due to a hamstring issue.

In the games that he has featured in, the teenager has displayed why he is so highly thought of by those at Selhurst Park. Prior to making the move to Pride Park in the summer, Ozoh had made 10 Premier League appearances for Palace, which showed just how much they believed in him.

Starting every game that he has been available for, that level of talent has been on show with Derby too.

"Ozzy has trained for a couple of days this week," said Warne to Rams TV. "With David, we were hopeful he would be available for this weekend – we’re not sure he will be, but he’s really close."

The manager also said that Callum Elder had been back training with the group on Tuesday, while Jake Rooney, who played for the under-21s in the National League Cup against Aldershot Town earlier in the week, is also building up his fitness ahead of a return to first-team action, but that won't come just yet.

Derby need to be careful with David Ozoh

As the temporary club of a young player like Ozoh, County have a duty to look after the teenager to maybe a slightly higher standard than usual, because he isn't theirs.

Hamstring problems can become reoccurring ones, especially when young players start to pick them up. The Eagles won't want one of their top prospects to be put at any unnecessary risk of long-term damage, which is probably why Derby are being cautious with him.