Star in fresh setback

Rams midfielder Giles Barnes has suffered a recurrence to his thigh injury and may not be back in first-team action for another month.

The 20-year-old has not played since February after sustaining a serious knee injury but he was back in training after making a good recovery following an operation in America.

He then suffered a thigh injury in training last month that put his comeback on hold but he was again making good progress and was hoping to feature for the reserves next week.

However, Barnes has now been hit by a fresh thigh problem and, while it's not serious, he is unlikely to come into contention for Paul Jewell's side until the middle of December at the earliest.

"He's picked up a little tear in his thigh, which happens when you come back from long-term injury, you do pick up niggles," said Jewell.

"He's straining at the leash but he's not 100 per cent fit. He's had a couple of setbacks but his knee is fine, which is the main thing.

"We were looking at him to play on Wednesday night (in the reserves) but this might knock him back a bit. We'll have to speak with the physios and see where we are at," the Rams boss added.