Derby County will look to keep their faint Championship play-off hopes alive when they host Queens Park Rangers at the Pride Park Stadium on Friday night.
The Rams sit nine points behind sixth-placed Sheffield Wednesday with eight fixtures of the season remaining, and while securing a top six spot looks unlikely, new boss Gary Rowett won’t have given up hope just yet.
County looked set to close that gap even further during their last match against arch-rivals Nottingham Forest at the City Ground with the Owls losing to Reading, but a last-gasp equaliser meant that they only took a point in a 2-2 draw.
The international break followed that disappointment and it gave Rowett a chance to take a closer look at the U-23 side, and according to the Derby Telegraph, he was impressed with some of the players on show.
Here are THREE Derby youngsters that could start the crucial clash against QPR…
Max Lowe
Despite being just 19, the left-back has already made 12 appearances in all competitions for the Rams this term, with his last outing coming against Blackburn Rovers last month.
The County starlet will be in confident mood ahead of the clash against QPR on Friday night having helped England’s U-20 side to four nations glory in France last week.
Lowe will hope that is enough to give him a starting role ahead of Marcus Olsson – who started against Forest last time out – at Pride Park.
Timi Elsnik
The 18-year-old made two substitute appearances for the club in the EFL Cup against Carlisle United and Liverpool earlier this season, but he is yet to make an outing in the Championship this term.
However, Rowett personally mentioned the midfielder in his interview with the Derby Telegraph.
He said: “Timi Elsnik looked very good in training, and quite a few others have as well.”
That suggests that the Slovenian midfielder is at the forefront of his thoughts ahead of the clash against QPR, and he will hope that he is given a start ahead of the likes of Craig Bryson and Bradley Johnson.
Mason Bennett
The 20-year-old forward struggled to get a look-in for the Derby first team under Nigel Pearson or Steve McClaren this season, but the early signs are that it will be a different story with Gary Rowett.
Bennett – who became the club’s youngest-ever player when he made his debut aged just 15 in 2011 and has made 36 appearances in total for the club – made only his second outing of the season as a late substitute in the 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest.
He will hope that he did enough then – and in training – to convince Rowett that he should start against QPR.