Marshall monitored by Rams ahead of home clash
ASSISTANT BOSS ROSENIOR HAS RECOVERED FROM COVID
DERBY County assistant manager Liam Rosenior says there will be late checks on keeper David Marshall ahead of tonight’s home Championship clash against Bournemouth (6pm).
Marshall missed Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat by Rotherham United, with Kelle Roos replacing him between the posts, due to illness.
“David has got a viral infection, thankfully not Covid-19,” said Rosenior.
“We are just monitoring him at the moment to see if he is available for selection. He is a huge part of the team.
“I thought Kelle Roos came in (against Rotherham) and did really well and he was unfortunate not to get a clean sheet.”
But Tom Lawrence is also still out due to an ankle injury, while fellow forward Jack Stretton will not be risked due to his groin problem.
“Tom won’t be available, he still has some way to go,” Rosenior added.
“He is gradually improving, which is great, but obviously he is a big miss to this group because he is an outstanding player at this level.
“The sooner he gets fit, the better for everybody.
“Jack is managing himself back to fitness. He had an issue with his groin.
“With the amount of players we have got in our squad at the moment we want players as fit as possible and what we don’t want is to risk them where they are then out for an
even longer period.”
Meanwhile, Rosenior has revealed he was struck down by coronavirus.
An outbreak of Covid-19 forced the Rams to close their Moor Farm training ground earlier this month.
It meant none of the first-team squad or staff was involved in the FA Cup third round tie at Chorley and the Rams had to field a team made up of players from the under-23 and under-18 squads.
Rosenior was one of the staff members hit by the virus.
“I was laid out with Covid-19 for 10 days, I was really struggling,” he said.
“I am much better now. I have asthma, so it was something that struck me really, really hard.
“I wasn’t able to get out of bed for eight days straight, not much sleep, and I feel for every single person who has gone through this and been affected adversely.
“Your health is your wealth. It is not a nice virus and so I hope everyone out there is safe and well and is taking the precautions they possibly can because, trust me, it is not a nice illness to have.”
The wait continues for the Rams takeover to be completed by Sheikh Khaled Zayed Bin Saquer Zayed Al Nayhan’s Derventio Holdings (UK) Limited.
Asked if he had an update on the situation with the takeover, Rosenior said: “From my end, no.
“Like I said I am just trying to affect what I can affect, which is being the best coach I can be and trying to assist this club in getting back to where it wants to be.
“Obviously, the sooner we come to some kind of conclusion, the better for everyone, but at the moment I cannot give you any more updates on where we are, and it is not really my position to do that anyway.”
Rosenior was also asked if the players have been paid their outstanding wages for December.
“It is not really for me to say and I
have to leave it at that, more for legal reasons than anything else,” he said.
“I don’t want to say something that might be true or untrue without knowing the full facts.
“We all want the perfect environment where everything is rosy and you can just focus on the football but I don’t think we are the only football club in this situation.
“A lot of football clubs are finding it difficult financially. I think all you can do when you are in this situation is do the job to the best of your ability.”