Paul Warne urged to play Derby County star who "makes a difference" more | OneFootball

The winger has started to show flickers of why he was brought to the club, and could make his way into Warne's plans more.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Derby County's good start to the season continued on Saturday afternoon, as they picked up their 13th home point of the season against Hull City.

Dajaune Brown's first career goal cancelled out Xavier Simons' excellent 25-yard strike to take the Rams up to 12th in the Championship table after 12 games.

While they perhaps would have hoped for more from this last week, the hat-trick of 1-1 draws against Millwall, Oxford United and then the Tigers means that Paul Warne's side are now on a four-game unbeaten run as they head into Saturday's clash with Stoke City.

It's yet another match where the Derby manager has a difficult decision to make with his choice of wingers, as Corey Blackett-Taylor missed out on the starting XI against Hull in place of Kayden Jackson and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.

Warne urged to give Blackett-Taylor more minutes

The three-game week saw Warne rotate his wingers, with each of them starting two and sitting out on the bench in the other.

It was important that the Rams kept minutes as limited as possible due to the importance of the matches that they were playing, as Warne's team faced opposition in-and-around them in the league table.

Nevertheless, for Football League World's Derby Fan Pundit, Shaun Woodward, getting Corey Blackett-Taylor more involved should be seen as a priority, after he was asked which player deserves more minutes following the start of the season.

He told FLW: "He comes on in games, and he makes a difference. He beats his man, he cuts in, he's always looking to get a shot away, he's proactive and he's positive thinking.

"I just think we lack that at the moment in our front three. Alright, it can be easier sometimes to come on against tired legs, but he always does seem to make a difference when he comes on."

Shaun continued: "Paul Warne finally starts him in the game and then drops him again, so, to me, he needs a run of games in the team to show what you can do. I think he definitely deserves to start now in that front three because none of them are really pulling up any trees.

"So, I think it's time to give him a consistent four or five-game run in the side, and then we can judge him after that."

Blackett-Taylor's past fitness issues are perhaps having an impact on his minutes

Although his recent performances have warranted more starts, it has not been the easiest transition for the 27-year-old since joining Derby in January from Charlton Athletic, originally on loan, before the move became permanent in the summer.

He has made just 19 appearances in black-and-white, starting only seven times - playing 616 minutes in those games.

He missed the start of the season due to an issue picked up in pre-season, and he started his Rams career slowly in 2023/24, failing to make the matchday squad on three occasions in his first seven games after joining.

Nevertheless, Blackett-Taylor is slowly starting to show what he can do out on the wing, and his unpredictability has caused issues for right-backs in the Championship already, with the former Tranmere Rovers man picking up his first Derby goal against Norwich City in September.

Giving the 27-year-old consistent minutes on the pitch is the aim in the coming weeks and months, but Warne must be careful not to overwork his winger, and that's why, so far, he has been limited mostly to sporadic performances.