Rams lifted by O'Brien news

Derby have received a boost with the news defender Mark O'Brien is ready to resume light training.

O'Brien has been out since damaging his anterior cruciate ligaments in training at the end of December. He underwent surgery a matter of days later to correct the problem. The 19-year-old returned to full training for pre-season in July and stepped up his long-awaited comeback with a late substitute appearance during a friendly win at Burton, replacing captain Richard Keogh in the 77th minute to get some much-needed minutes under his belt. However, after such a long time out through injury, O'Brien's return to training was met by soreness and swelling in the knee and subsequently the centre-back visited a specialist in London earlier this week. After a consultation with the specialist and an injection in his knee, Derby have confirmed the Irishman will slowly be reintroduced to first-team training next week.