Young trio ready for Rams

James Tomkins, Jack Collison and Freddie Sears are all in contention to make their first starts at the Boleyn Ground this Saturday.

All three have enjoyed the bulk of their senior side experience on the road this season with only Sears getting two substitute appearances in front of the home crowd - 15 minutes against Blackburn Rovers and 32 minutes against Portsmouth. Tomkins has featured twice away from home against Everton, when he got the full 90 minutes, and Sunderland while Collison has played twice off the bench at Arsenal and Bolton Wanderers.

When asked whether the trio would be involved, Curbishley said: "The points are vital but so is the development of one or two players ... I was very unhappy with what happened last week at Bolton. We gave Jack Collison his debut and we turned in a dreadful performance. He was affected by that ... We need to bounce back and it may be that one or two fresh legs and some enthusiasm come back into it."

With defensive changes in line for the visit of Derby County, Tomkins will be especially hopeful and Lucas Neill may even come back in alongside after sitting out at Bolton with a twisted ankle. Further forward, Collison is eager to play again but will have extra competition from the likes of Nolberto Solano, Julien Faubert, Freddie Ljungberg and Mark Noble, with the latter two back after hamstring trouble. In attack, Sears will compete with Dean Ashton, Carlton Cole and Bobby Zamora

Reviewing his increased options, Curbishley said: "Lucas is all right, Freddie [Ljungberg] is in the frame, Noble has trained, Faubert has trained so we are hopeful that one or two of them will be back this weekend. Lucas is a different case but I am not convinced they are all 100 per cent because they have been out some time. Faubert especially [after his calf muscle trouble], but we will see this weekend.

"We all want to do as well as we can, we want to finish as high up as we can but I have said that I will take the opportunity to give one or two a go. I have got to see some of them. I have hardly seen anything of Bobby Zamora this year, he has played the first couple of games and been involved in the last couple. "We have got four games, three of them at home, so we will be having a look at one or two things."

The manager also reflected on the impending visit by Roehampton University's Sport Performance Assessment and Rehabilitation Centre (SPARC) to work alongside staff at Chadwell Heath, with the club also looking at everything from footwear to training pitches. The manager said: "We are taking advice on all aspects of where we are and what we are trying to do and [we will] see what comes out of it. Roehampton work with elite athletes and go across the board from diets up to rehab and training."