City boss Brian Barry-Murphy spoke to the press on Thursday morning, looking ahead to our first away match of the 2026/27 campaign, against Derby County.
BBM gave an update on the squad’s injury list, saying: "We'll train this afternoon and check on the likes of Calum Chambers. Dylan [Lawlor] won't be available for Saturday. Obviously, Will Fish is out.
"Gabe [Osho] hyper-extended his knee late on Monday. He was in discomfort. We'll check on him this afternoon.
"It just happens. Different things will happen across a season that test you and at the moment in that area of the pitch we are vulnerable.
"We're trying to get the players fit and healthy as quick as we can, while trying to continue with our recruitment strategy in a calm and precise manner to improve the squad.
"We'll be looking to put out our best team on Saturday and be backed by a huge following and give it everything to play well and win."
It will be Derby County’s first home match of the season, having begun the campaign with a 2-1 away defeat at Charlton Athletic. The Rams finished 8th in the Sky Bet Championship last term.
"I've watched them really closely over the course of last season and particularly at the beginning of this season so we're fully prepared,” Brian continued. "They're a very strong team. John Eustace has done a great job there and we're aware of the level of test we're going to face.
"We'll do everything in our power to be ready for that and try and win."
Brian also reflected on our 1-1 draw with Wrexham.
He concluded: "I didn't think we played our best game in the first match but we showed signs of what we can do.
"We feel as if we can improve a lot over the course of the season.
"We're in a situation at the moment where we're a little stretched, but we feel as if we can be really competitive and start well."