Derby County captain Richard Keogh expected to face Middlesbrough

Derby County captain Richard Keogh is expected to be fit for Saturday's trip to Middlesbrough after shaking off a hamstring injury.

The defender was forced to miss the Championship leaders' 3-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend with the problem.

However, the 28-year-old is back in training and in contention to feature for the Rams against their promotion rivals at the Riverside Stadium.

"Richard did some light work towards the end of last week and he trained Monday and Tuesday and came through unscathed," assistant manager Paul Simpson is quoted as saying by Sky Sports News.

"We will keep building up his training towards the weekend and then the manager has a lovely headache. Does he change a back four that kept a clean sheet?"

Derby currently have a one-point lead over Ipswich Town at the top of the Championship table.