Nigel Pearson has provided positive injury news in relation to Antoine Semenyo and Stefan Bajic as the club plan to step up their training schedules in preparation for bringing them back into the fold.
Both players underwent a scan during the week as Semenyo recovers from a shin injury picked up in international duty at the start of June, while July arrival Bajic underwent surgery on a wrist injury at the end of last season.
Pearson confirmed Semenyo won't be in contention to face Severnside rivals Cardiff on Sunday emphasising the importance of not rushing him back into action. On Tuesday, the striker was spotted being put through an individual training session at the Robins' High Performance Centre.
"Yea he's had it (the scan), he's okay. He's making progress," Pearson said. "(Involving him on Sunday) It's not something I've considered to be honest with you. The intensity of his training has been increased and it's just one of those things that we've got to make sure that it's not rushed."
Pearson also confirmed goalkeeper Bajic is two or three weeks away from being considered for action when he's fully integrated with the senior training programme. The 21-year-old Frenchman is likely to play a handful of games with the Under-21 side before challenging Dan Bentley to the No1 shirt.
"He's had a positive scan result this week as well so hopefully over the next two or three weeks his training will be increased," Pearson added.
"Of course with goalkeepers it's a bit different, especially having a wrist injury that he's had to deal with. Clearly it dominates the training programme but he's had good news and I suppose two or three weeks the type of training he'll do will be more in keeping with everyone else."
Pearson admitted his squad will be similar to the one that picked up their first three points of the season against Luton Town with Matty James still expected to be sidelined alongside centre-back Tomas Kalas. The manager admitted on Wednesday that there is no update regarding the defender's injury situation.
Mark Sykes will also miss out as he carries out the first of his three-match ban after being sent off for a reckless challenge against the Hatters in the week.
Pearsons said: "It will be more or less the same squad. We'll just have to check on one or two people tomorrow but we are relatively lucky at the moment to have a fit-ish squad.
"We've got two or three players missing and obviously Sykes will be suspended for this one which is a shame because he's been a very good performer for us this year.
"I don't divulge between games what the team is going to look like but I think it's very healthy to have good competition that's driven by the players."
Pearson also suggested he will take into consideration the high-tempered emotions of a derby fixture when selecting his squad by suggesting same players may handle the situation better than others.
"Part of the selection process is believing the players can handle that situation. More senior players might have experienced some negative things in their career which might be blockages for them," he said.
"The youth vs experience arguments are always an interesting one because there's no one answer for that sort of issue. The selection for our team this weekend will be based on who we think as staff will be the best starting XI and bench because the bench is always as important in many ways as the starting XI.
"I've said many times before that the selection of the bench isn't down to keeping people happy. It's about what permutations may be required during the game so again some times people are reading into selection conundrums about why some people are on the bench.
"It's because they haven't been selected for this game - simple."
Midfielder Ayman Benarous remains a long-term absentee as he recovers from a cruciate ligament injury picked up towards the end of last season with the club initially pencilling in December as a potential return to action.
Pearson admitted his recovery is going well while he continues to integrate himself among other members of the first-team squad. The manager said: "He's making really good progress. He's using his time well, let's put it like that.
"He's becoming a fully-fledged member of the first team squad. He's spending a lot of time around the treatment room which is one of the main hubs of any training ground."
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