“It’s great to be back”: Derby County man ready for Northampton Town challenge

Derby County’s next test comes in the form of Northampton Town. With the Rams sat in ninth, they will be desperate to get a result and try to move closer to the playoff places.

Pressure has been mounting on manager Paul Warne as fans are getting more impatient waiting to see results. One of the positives for Warne however is the return of winger Joe Ward who the Rams signed in the summer.

Ward has only made four appearances as he suffered a heel injury in August, but has now fully returned. The winger has been speaking to Rams TV ahead of tonights clash, he said: “It’s felt like a very long time. It’s felt like half a season to be fair!

“It’s been very frustrating because I just wanted to be out there and be part of it but I’ve just had to be patient, let the injury heal and I feel like I’m in a good place now.”

During his recovery, Ward has been working on his fitness to make sure he’s match ready now he has returned, he added: “I’ve done a lot of cardio work, pool work and swimming.

“I was on the bike with a boot on and using the cardio machines like the rower in the gym and the ropes. It was just a case of topping up where I could and keeping my fitness up.”He said that he found it frustrating to get hit with an injury after a strong showing in his opening games as a Ram: “The timing was the most frustrating thing because I’d had a good pre-season, done well in the opening games and was hoping to take that into the start of the season and then I got the annoying injury.

“It was very frustrating but I just wanted to get back as quick as I could and get back to doing what I was doing pre-season and helping the team.”

Ward made his fourth appearance on Saturday during Derby’s 3-1 loss to Stevenage as he came on from the bench after 81 minutes. He added: “It was great to be back and a great feeling to be involved again on a matchday. It was good to get the minutes but it wasn’t the result we wanted. We’ve got to be better, much better, and we will be.”

The Rams face 20th placed Northampton this evening in a game that Paul Warne’s side should expect to win. After such a dissapointing performance at the weekend, it will be crucial to have a good outing tonight and get the fans back on side.

Joe Ward emphasised the importance if getting back to winning ways: “It’s about moving on and focusing on the next one because we need points on the board.

“We need to get three points and try and build and get some momentum and get a few wins in a row on the board.”