Derby County will be looking to pick up another win in their pursuit of winning promotion out of League One this weekend, playing against Northampton Town in just one of three fixtures scheduled for this weekend in the third tier owing to International call-ups.

The Rams will just view it as an opportunity to extend the points gap between themselves and Bolton Wanderers, hoping that a victory can be secured at Sixfields even with Dwight Gayle now sidelined.

Gayle had been a stroke of genius from the Derby hierarchy to bring into the building on a free transfer, with the ex-Newcastle United centre-forward bagging three goals from six appearances before injury disaster struck.

Looking towards the future then, when Gayle's short-term deal expires at Pride Park in the summer, Warne will be very tempted to launch this promising attacker into his lineups based on his goalscoring exploits down in the National League.

Dajaune Brown's time at Gateshead on loan

Already being labelled as "The Beast" by fans of Gateshead according to football journalist Jeff Bowron, young Rams prospect Dajaune Brown is loving life at the non-league side currently.

Brown has netted three goals from 11 appearances in the bread and butter of the National League, which included a last-minute equaliser away at Boreham Wood from just nine minutes on the pitch, but his main heroics have come in the FA Trophy for his new loan club.

A hat-trick against Peterborough Sports FC at the start of this month helped Gateshead reach the FA Trophy final at Wembley, the confident Heed number 14 ripping apart defences on a consistent basis in his new surroundings.

This could well see Brown given first-team opportunities aplenty very soon at his parent club, especially when you consider the ageing forward positions at Pride Park and the fact Gayle could well exit Derbyshire when his short-term deal expires.

Warne will just pray Brown can come good in the senior ranks, after showing off his devastating prowess in front of goal in the youth set-up for the Rams alongside maturing in non-league.

Dajaune Brown's record at youth level

Gifting raw young talents more and more minutes in the first-team mix has worked in the past in Derbyshire, with the likes of Max Bird and Jason Knight starring after developing through the Academy structure alongside faces such as Eiran Cashin and Louie Sibley.

Moreover, Brown finding the back of the net 20 times from 33 appearances playing for the U18s and U21s dictates that he must be thrown into the senior deep-end more regularly.

The 18-year-old striker has amassed five appearances in the first-team fold at Derby already, with his 13-minute cameo against Northampton earlier in the campaign seeing Rams assistant manager Richie Barker wax lyrical about the potential he possesses for the future.

Barker described Brown as "brilliant" after his brief appearance against the Cobblers, with the 18-year-old winning two aerial duels at Pride Park in the 4-0 victory to throw himself about.

It remains to be seen whether or not Brown can translate his electric form at youth level for the Rams – and his prolific nature at Gateshead – to the Derby first-team ranks consistently.

If he can take to the jump up effortlessly, Brown could well be the perfect natural successor to Gayle.