Frank Lampard says Ashley Cole will not make Derby debut in FA Cup tie at Accrington Stanley
Thursday 24 January 2019 16:10, UK
Frank Lampard says Ashley Cole will not make his Derby County debut this weekend in the FA Cup against Accrington Stanley.
On Monday, Derby confirmed the signing of three-time Premier League winner Cole as a free agent until the end of the season.
The left-back had been without a club since leaving LA Galaxy in November, and joins his former Chelsea and England team-mate Lampard at the Championship side.
Currently sixth, Derby return to league action against Preston on February 1, but first they will face Accrington in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday.
However, Lampard said on Thursday that 38-year-old Cole is not ready to start yet.
"He hasn't been training for a few weeks and to throw him in would be naive on everyone's part.
"I did it myself when I went to America - I tried to get fit in a week and got injured so we don't want anything like that if we can help it.
"So we will try and be smart and he won't be far away but we need to work him slightly separately at the moment.
"I've just ruled out this weekend. We will see day by day how he progresses."
Lampard also ruled out Tom Lawrence, Scott Carson, and Andre Wisdom with injuries, while confirming Florian Jozefzoon has returned to training after a knee problem.
