Paul Warne has admitted that he misses former Derby County player Louie Sibley ahead of the Rams’ trip to Oxford United on Tuesday evening.

The academy graduate made 173 appearances in black-and-white before leaving to join The U’s in the summer after his contract expired at Pride Park, and his former manager spoke proudly of him in his pre-match interview ahead of the two’s first meeting since he made the switch.

Sibley was part of the Derby side that won promotion back to the Championship last season, playing mostly at left wing-back, a position that he excelled in despite coming through the ranks as an attacking midfielder.

Since moving to the Kassam Stadium, the 23-year-old has reverted back to a role that is more similar to his natural position, slotting in to central midfield when given the opportunity, but he has struggled for minutes during his short time at Oxford.

Nevertheless, he will be hoping to get one over his boyhood club on Tuesday as the Rams look to become the first team to take all three points away from Des Buckingham’s side on the road, with Dane Scarlett’s late strike against West Bromwich Albion keeping The U’s unbeaten home run going on Saturday.

Warne makes Sibley confession

Although it has been over three months since Sibley made his way south to Oxford, the love that Warne had for him has not left, with the current Rams boss still full of praise for the player.

The Burton-born midfielder decided to bring his time at Pride Park to an end in the summer, and while it has not been the easiest of starts for him at his new club, his recent goal against Portsmouth shows that he is slowly getting to the level that he has shown in his past.

In his pre-match interview with Rams TV, Warne spoke about Sibley and the impact that he had on both him and the team during their nearly two seasons together.

“It’s always sad, he started. “I say at the end of the season, it’s like you drop a bag of marbles and some roll off, hit the wall and stay in, and some roll off, go under the door and are not to be seen again.

“So, it’s always sad when players come [and go], especially people like Sibs, because he was like the fabric of this football club for many years.

“So I do miss seeing him around the coffee machine and that. I had many comical conversations with him, so yeah, I do miss him and there’s times where I do miss him and, obviously, there’s even times now where I think I could do with a Sibs today or whatever.

Warne continued: “But obviously, he’s gone and when he scored his first goal against Pompey it was a very Louie goal… I text him that night to congratulate him on his first goal so it’ll be good to see him.

“I know a lot of his teammates at Oxford really well, so he’s doing well, and obviously he’ll no doubt play a role tomorrow night.”

Derby will know the threat that Sibley possesses

Although it has perhaps not been the start that Sibley would have been expecting since joining Oxford, in the Yellows’ last two games he has started to have played a bigger role.

He played at least 20 minutes against both Portsmouth and West Brom, and with fixtures starting to mount up, the 23-year-old could have more involvement against his former club as Buckingham potentially starts to look at squad rotation.

But, this could play into Derby’s hands as they will know Sibley inside and out due to the amount of time he spent at the club.

The Rams were able to nullify both Jason Knight and Max Bird earlier in the campaign, and the threat of another academy graduate could be made negligible due to the knowledge that the club’s midfielders and defence will already have of him.

A feisty and formidable player on his day, Derby will hope to keep him out of shooting range if he does make his way onto the pitch, while also knowing that he does have a tendency to pick up a yellow card on the odd occasion.

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The Rams picked up their first away point of the season on Saturday against Millwall, and will be hoping for more on Tuesday against The U’s.