NIGEL Clough will not rush Dean Leacock back after the Derby County defender's lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Leacock, who has been out for eight months with a groin injury, reported back for pre-season training with the rest of the Rams squad yesterday.

The 25-year-old centre-back has been out since limping off during the Carling Cup victory at Brighton in November.

"Dean has been out a long time," said manager Nigel Clough.

"Perversely, he has probably been looking forward to pre-season more than anybody to get back training with the rest of the players again.

"But we have to be cautious with him and we certainly will not be pushing him.

"It takes your body time to get used to things again. It might be that if he feels anything, he will come out of training for a day or two.

"What we don't want is any prolonged absences of a week or two. We would rather a player missed a morning or afternoon session, something like that, to protect them.

"We haven't seen Dean play because he was out injured last season. We have just got to take it steady with him. We certainly don't want to rush him when he has been out for eight months."

Paul Green, Chris Porter, Miles Addison, Jay McEveley and Steve Davies missed the end of last season but are backing in training.

Green, Addison, McEveley and Davies have recovered from foot injuries. Green and McEveley also had shoulder surgery while Porter sat out the last 11 games with a hip problem.

Clough is delighted to see the players back and says they were "hugely" missed in the closing stages of last season when the Rams only secured their Championship status in the penultimate match.

"One or two injuries you can may be, and we did for a while, get away with," said Clough.

"But I think when you get five or six – and to a large degree the heart of the side was taken away – then we certainly did miss them and it put an awful lot of stress on the ones left."

The only player who did not report back yesterday is Welsh international Lewin Nyatanga whose break will last a little longer due to his recent international commitments.

"Everybody took part, everybody completed the session which is a good start, nobody dropped out. That is nice to see," said Clough.

"The players did some jogging at half pace and stretching. Everybody comes back in different condition, some are fitter than others so we just keep them all together and do a general session which some will find comfortable and others not so comfortable.

"There will be a double session today and on Friday, and then they will get a rest at the weekend."