Derby County boss Wayne Rooney has admitted forward Colin Kazim-Richards only trained with the first team for the first time since his ruptured Achilles injury on Monday despite coming on as a substitute against Preston North End at the weekend, speaking to Derbyshire Live.

In a nightmarish scenario back in August, the 35-year-old was stretchered off the pitch against Peterborough United, in what was a huge blow for the Rams who had seen him score eight league goals in 35 appearances last term and looked set to be a key player again in a young squad.

This was also a major setback because the East Midlands side because they had no other senior striker at the club at the time due to their strict EFL-imposed transfer embargo during the previous transfer window, although they were granted permission to sign former trialist Sam Baldock in the absence of the ex-Turkey international.

Despite ploughing on well without him, their impressive start to the campaign has largely been due to their solid defensive record, holding the joint-best defensive record in the Championship with leaders AFC Bournemouth having conceded just eight goals.

Their attacking record has been in stark contrast to this, scoring just seven times in 12 league appearances and struggling to turn draws into vital wins because of this.

They had the worst goalscoring record in the league last term and look set to take that unwanted title again unless they can improve their finishing - but manager Wayne Rooney had a positive update on Kazim-Richards who played in the last 15 minutes against Preston on Saturday afternoon.

Speaking to Derbyshire Live ahead of tomorrow's match against Luton Town, he said: "Today [Monday] is actually the first day he has trained with us. He didn't train with us before the game on Saturday," Rooney said.

"I just felt if I could get 10 or 15 minutes out of him at Preston he might get an opportunity to score.

"It is good to have him back. He will be on the bench again tomorrow night [v Luton Town] and I am sure he will get some minutes on the pitch.

"It is a case of building up the minutes game by game. He has not got the fitness to start games, so we will try to build his fitness up and I would imagine in a couple of weeks he will be back to full fitness.

"We are short on strikers at the moment, so to have Colin back with his presence and his ability to hold the ball up and bring players into play will be a massive plus for us."

The Verdict:

Having Kazim-Richards back will be a huge boost for Derby County who will inevitably improve their attacking record with him in the side, whether he scores or not.

Rooney is right to point out the attributes he brings to the team other than his goalscoring capabilities. And whilst Baldock is an experienced Championship option up top, with his work rate being more than admirable, he isn't effective on his own.

This is why the former Turkish international is more suited to the Manchester United legend's setup at Pride Park, allowing the Rams to hold the ball up and bring the likes of Ravel Morrison and Tom Lawrence into play, both of whom can be very dangerous on their day.

With this, they will start to pick up more wins and give themselves a real chance of staying up if they remain in their current predicament with the 12-point deduction.

Wins are vital in their current situation as they remain six points adrift of safety as things stand - and there's every chance they can stay up. The weekend's 0-0 draw against Preston was a missed opportunity, but they will be hoping to capitalise on their home advantage against Luton Town this evening, another winnable game in the East Midlands.