Phil SumblerThe words of Steve Cooper will go down well at Sheffield Wednesday and Rotherham as he suggested on Thursday afternoon that he had no plans to rest players for the weekend clash for anything other than medical reasons.
There were suggestions earlier in the week that Cooper may have been looking to rest some key players over the next two games as his side prepare for the play offs having secured their place with a point at Reading last weekend.
But as he faced the press on Thursday afternoon he confirmed that whilst Andre Ayew maybe an absentee for Saturday he had no plans to rest players unless they were medically unfit to play.
Derby arrive at the Liberty on Saturday themselves looking for the points that they need to secure their own Championship future for next season with the Rams standing four points clear of the relegation zone heading into the last week and a bit of the season.
Sheffield Wednesday and Rotherham will both have half an eye on events at the Liberty knowing that a win for Derby will all but consign both to at least a season in League One meaning both will be boosted by the words of Cooper.
“I think we need to get the balance right,” said Cooper.
“There’s still two games left to play. A lot of good can come out from that in terms of results and performances.
“A lot of players are in good form and we want to keep momentum going.
“There’s a few lads like Andre (Ayew) whose struggling a little bit physically that we need to be careful with. He wasn’t 100 per cent against Reading, and in an ideal world we wouldn’t have used him. He’s had a little setback, but he’s not completely out for Saturday – if he is then he should be fine for Watford.
“Resting players, it’ll only be because they medically can’t play, it won’t be because they physically can’t play.
“There’s two games to play and we want to play well and win those. There’s two weeks of work which we will respect, then we’ll focus on the play-offs.”
