Sheffield Wednesday: Keiren Westwood remains an injury concern as the Owls prepare for Derby County test

Keiren Westwood is battling to be fit for Sheffield Wednesday's crunch clash at Derby County.

The goalkeeper sat-out Saturday’s hard-fought victory over Queens Park Rangers due to a back injury.

Westwood, who turned 32 earlier this week, suffered the knock in the warm-up against Cardiff City last week.

With Westwood ruled out, academy graduate Cameron Dawson made his first Owls start and he excelled in between the sticks as the Owls secured their fifth Hillsborough win.

Boss Carlos Carvalhal told The Star: “Keiren has not trained yet this week.

“We will see today if he can train or not.

“We are analysing it day by day and we will see if he recovers.”

It would be a major boost for Wednesday if Westwood is available for selection. The Republic of Ireland international has played an integral part in the Owls keeping 17 Championship clean sheets in each of the last two seasons.

Wednesday will travel to fourth-from-bottom Derby this Saturday looking to stretch their unbeaten away run to four outings.

The Rams, who recently reappointed Steve McClaren as boss, are the lowest scorers in the Football League, having managed to find the back of the net a paltry seven times. Last season’s Play-Off Semi-Finalists have failed to score in eight out of their 14 league matches this season, registering just one first-half goal in their 17 fixtures in all competitions.

“I’m a little surprised to see them down there,” admitted Carvalhal. “It is strange as they have good players but these things can happen to all teams.

“They have not done so well so far this season but they are still, in my opinion, one of the best sides in the Championship.

“It will be a difficult game. We know Derby are a strong side. We have had time to prepare for the game and I expect a good answer from my players.”

Meanwhile, Liam Palmer has penned a two-year contract extension. His new deal will see him remain at Wednesday until 2019.