Idiakez ruled out of Derby play-off clashes

Derby’s hopes of securing promotion to the Premiership have been dealt a hefty blow with the news midfielder Inigo Idiakez has been ruled out for the Championship play-offs.

The Spanish midfielder, who has contributed 11 goals to the Rams’ cause this season, will miss both legs of the semi-final clash with Preston as well as the final, should the Pride Park club earn the right to play at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

And ahead of the trip to meet the Lilywhites in tomorrow’s first-leg encounter at Deepdale, Derby manager George Burley confirmed striker Grzegorz Rasiak would also be missing following a hernia operation, while Chris Makin has been ruled out by a heel injury.

Burley groaned: “Inigo did his groin muscle in training. I was 10 yards away at the time and it looked very innocuous, but as he sidefooted the ball away, his standing leg slipped.

“We’ve had it scanned and there’s a tear so he’s out for the season. The boy’s very disappointed because from day one he’s said he wanted to help get us into the Premiership, so to have got to this stage and then be forced to miss out has left him devastated.

“Now, with Grzegorz out as well, we go to Preston without our two most influential players and that means we’ll have to shuffle the pack. But that’s life in football.

“We’ve had a good chat with the players and worked through a few things, but this is the time we really need our senior players to pull together and be positive.

“We’re two games away from getting to Cardiff, so we’re very close to the Premiership.”

Dead-ball specialist Idiakez has proved prolific from set-pieces this season with his last goal having come from a quickly taken free-kick as the Rams ran out 3-1 Pride Park winners over North End on the final afternoon of the regular season.