'They'll take some shifting' - is this Derby County's strongest XI to restart the season?

Once the Championship action resumes the Rams manager Phillip Cocu will hope to have an almost fully-fit squad

Derby County's players are back training at Moor Farm in preparation for a possible return to action.

The coronavirus pandemic brought football to a halt in March, but the Premier League has now set a return date and the Championship is expected to follow suit.

When it does, Derby's squad is set to boosted by the return from injury of Duane Holmes and Tom Huddlestone, but not Krystian Bielik who suffered a serious knee injury in January.

Holmes missed the last five matches with a lower-leg/ankle injury while Huddlestone's calf problem had kept him out since mid-January.

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Here, in the 4-2-3-1 shape used for most of the season, is my choice of Derby's XI if they return to action.

GOALKEEPER

Ben Hamer

He has had some shaky moments and there is not much between Derby's two senior keepers, but he has been number one in the League games since he replaced Kelle Roos in November.

BACK FOUR

Jayden Bogle, Andre Wisdom, Matt Clarke, Craig Forsyth

Andre Wisdom has, since the turn of the year, been showing arguably his best form in a Derby shirt since his loan spell at the club in 2013-14. He can play right back or centre back, but I feel the latter is his strongest position.

Jayden Bogle has had an up-and-down campaign, which is not a total surprise given his impressive debut season in the first team last season. He is 19, and the form of young players can fluctuate. An injury early in the season set him back, and his defensive work needs work, but he has shown signs of regaining the consistency he displayed last season and his forward forays are important to the team.

Matt Clarke has been steady for much of the time in his loan spell from Brighton & Hove Albion. His run in the team was interrupted by a knee injury he picked up playing against Nottingham Forest but he is now on a run of 13 consecutive starts in the League.

Craig Forsyth has competition at left back from Max Lowe and Scott Malone, but the Scot is Derby's best all-round left back. He is stronger defensively than the other two, but still gets forward. To come back from three serious knee injuries, as he has, deserves great credit.

Krystian Bielik is a long-term absentee as he recovers from a serious knee injury he suffered in January. We are still not sure of his best position, centre back or a holding-midfield role.

MIDFIELD PAIR

Max Bird, Wayne Rooney

There is good competition in a midfield two when everybody is fit and available. Tom Huddlestone showed an excellent understanding in his couple of starts alongside Wayne Rooney, and the pair ran the game against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Graeme Shinnie has had a stop-start season but he has shown he can offer the team midfield tenacity, something that can be essential in the Championship battle.

But on form, as they have been, the midfield pairing of Max Bird and Rooney takes some shifting.

Bird has been the 'find' of the season. The 19-year-old has made terrific strides. His composure on the ball, the angles he makes to receive the ball and tidiness of passing have impressed.

Rooney's influence on and off the pitch has been huge. A deep-lying midfield role allows him to get on the ball and conduct Derby's play. Watch him closely, watch how his football brain works. It is a joy to watch.

ATTACKING TRIO

Martyn Waghorn, Duane Holmes, Tom Lawrence

Duane Holmes is player of the season so far, for many. An injury on international duty with the United States in the summer saw him miss pre-season and much of the opening month of the campaign, leaving him playing catch up during the first half of the season. Gradually he found his form and he has offered energy and drive in an attacking midfield role.

Martyn Waghorn can play from the right or up front. He has been as consistent over the full season as any Derby player and is top scorer. Yes, he should have more goals from the chances he has had, and he knows that, but that tends to be the story for most strikers at this level.

Tom Lawrence's season has been quite a story. The match-winner in the opening game at Huddersfield, he then had a troubled time off the pitch with a drink-driving incident but he has been in good form since the beginning of November with six goals in 20 league games including winners against Middlesbrough and Swansea, a stunning strike against Huddersfield and a double in the 3-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday.

STRIKER

Chris Martin

The 31-year-old striker is enjoying his most productive campaign since a loan spell at Fulham in 2016-17.

In between there were difficult loan stints at Reading and at Hull City. He also had to battle a debilitating illness.

Full credit to him for that because there were question marks over whether he could regain the kind of form that had made him one of the top centre forwards in the Championship.

His double in the last game, the 3-0 home victory over Blackburn Rovers, took his goals' tally for the season to double figures, 10 in 29 games, and he has scored four in his last five starts.

Martin remains the best option at the club to fill the focal point of the attack in Derby's preferred shape of 4-2-3-1, or in a 4-3-3. He is one of the best players in the Championship with his back to goal and his game suits the way Cocu wants his team to play.