Derby County vs Nottingham Forest - Darren Bent and Max Lowe are Derby doubts

Posted Friday, December 09, 2016 by PA

Darren Bent and Max Lowe are doubts for Derby ahead of Sunday's clash with east midlands rivals Nottingham Forest at the iPro Stadium.

Striker Bent (hamstring) and left-back Lowe (groin) both missed last weekend's win at Wigan through injury and have yet to resume training but Rams boss Steve McClaren is hoping they will be available.

Midfielder Ikechi Anya is back in contention after a bout of illness while Nick Blackman has handed Derby a boost in his recovery from knee surgery.

The forward went under the knife a month ago and was expected to be out for between six and eight weeks. However, he has made good progress in his recovery and could return to training as early as Friday.

Britt Assombalonga is a doubt for Forest after injuring a hamstring in training on Friday and a decision will be made on the striker's fitness on Saturday.

Defender Hildeberto Pereira comes back into contention after serving a three-match suspension but Reds boss Philippe Montanier remains without a handful of players through injury.

Armand Traore (knee), Daniel Pinillos (knee), Chris Cohen (groin) and Matty Fryatt (Achilles) are still out.

Montanier has the likes of Mustapha Carayol, David Vaughan, Jack Hobbs, Jorge Grant and Apostolos Vellios available should he wish to make any changes to his starting line-up.