Talk of Steven Davies making a surprise return for Derby this weekend is premature, according to boss Nigel Clough.

Davies suffered a fractured skull playing against Southampton in October and was ruled out until January. But the striker revealed on social networking site Twitter this week he has had a protective mask fitted and the odds are 60-40 in favour of him playing against Bristol City at Pride Park on Saturday.

When asked about the possibility of Davies being included, Clough said: "He has not been re-scanned since his original operation so until he gets the okay from the specialist who performed the operation then we will not be risking him."

He added: "Initially they said it would be Christmas time or early January to give him around a three-month healing period but we will get him checked out a bit earlier just to see if it has healed.

"He will have a mask made as part of the process for when we do get the okay but we are some way from getting that at the moment.

"He is getting impatient, we all are, and I think it is worse for him because he is able to train. He is joining in all the sessions and doing extra fitness work as well. I think when you feel you can train, you feel you can get out there on a Saturday."