Derby County manager Paul Warne has admitted some of his players cannot understand the need to rotate the squad as the games come thick and fast.
The fixture list has not been kind to the Rams this week. They travelled to Elland Road to take on Leeds United last Saturday before another away day against Burnley on Tuesday. They round off a hectic seven days on Friday night when they return to Pride Park to host Portsmouth.
Derby have slipped down the table in recent weeks and now sit 17th in the Championship. A run of six games without a win has seen them fall to just four points above the relegation places, although the 0-0 draw at Turf Moor halted a run of three successive defeats.
Rotation Is Key To Festive Schedule
Speaking ahead of Friday’s fixture, Paul Warne reiterated the need to keep his squad fresh by rotating his starting lineup. However, he admitted that there are some members of his squad that cannot understand why they need to be rested. Speaking to Derbyshire Live, he said:
“Players never get that. Never and that is the most exhausting part of my job. One player’s got it, others are not so keen even if they have a history of injury or anything.
“We’re trying to keep them all fit. If you can keep them all fit going through Christmas, it helps massively. Obviously, it helps us when we pick the team that we pick from a clean sheet of paper when virtually everyone’s available.
“But then you go into games thinking right I’m expecting full energy from the team straight away and if we have to make five subs on the hour, then we’ll do it. I know the other day we made our subs quite quick and it had an impact.”
Writer’s View
We’ve seen several managers over the years succumb to temptation and keep the main nucleus of their team the same, regardless of how many fixtures have been played. Inevitably, this leads to several injuries and can leave a squad depleted during some of the most important parts of the season. Paul Warne has shown he is a smart cookie and is not prepared to run that risk. He will need a full squad as he looks to keep his Derby side in the Championship.
Head of Writing
