Former Blackburn Rovers defender, Ryan Nyambe, and midfielder Ebou Adams are fitness doubts for Derby County on Friday night.

John Eustace's side kick the Championship season off against the newly-promoted Rams this weekend. Paul Warne's side could be without two key players for the trip to Lancashire though.

Nyambe and Adams have both missed parts of training this week, making them fitness question marks for the clash with Rovers, whilst Joe Ward is definitely out with a knee complaint. Nyambe left Blackburn in 2022 after rejecting a new contract at the club.

Warne is expecting a tough match at Ewood Park to start the season, in what could be a low-margin affair.

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“John's teams are always well-organised. Not dissimilar to ours. Defensively, always very solid. Very hard to break down,” he told the club site.

“They'll be wanting to start the season on a home win, quite obviously. They've brought some new additions in recently, brought a striker.

“There's all this thing about, you know, who's going to be there, who's not going to be there. And all we can do is prepare for how we think they're going to play.

“If you watched us in all the pre-season games, I think we've played every system there is out there. So, all the best trying to guess how we're going to play as well.

“So, it's a little bit of, until the season gets going, a little bit of guesswork. You think certain players are going to play in certain positions. But he does have a certain style to his teams, as we do. 

"I think we're well-prepared for a tough game. Every game is a tough game, but the opening one, when the home fans are all pleased and turn up, is tough.

"If you look at the teams that are in the Championship, apart from the three that have come down and the three that have come up, the other 18 are established Championship teams. The other difference is that their strength of bench is frightening. 

"I love having nine on the bench and I'm not moaning about that, but if you look at the starting line-ups for everyone this weekend, they've got 20 solid Championship players. When you go up, you have to try and sign as many players as you can who can play at that level."