Ward Looks Set To Miss Out

Jamie Ward made his long awaited comeback from injury and scored a penalty in the 1-1 draw with Charlton Athletic on Saturday but he only lasted for fifteen minutes before leaving the pitch again making him a major doubt for the New Year`s Day clash with Middlesbrough.

Ward limped out of the victory over Nottingham Forest at the back end of September and had missed seventeen games before being named amongst the substitutes at The Valley. Nigel Clough introduced Ward with The Rams trailing 1-0 with twenty-two minutes to go and he made an almost immediate impact when converting a penalty four minutes later after a foul on John Brayford in the area. However, Ward was replaced only fifteen minutes after coming on and he looks likely to miss out against Middlesbrough. Talking to dcfc.co.uk about Ward`s comeback Clough said:

"It was great to see Jamie back out and he tucked the penalty away very nicely. He felt his hamstring soon afterwards so we decided it was best to get him off; especially given how long he has been out and he had been on the bench in the cold before coming on. From what he`s saying to us, he just felt it a little bit and nothing had gone or anything like that."

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.