PAUL Coutts is closing in on a return to action for Derby County.
The midfielder has taken part in training this week and could feature in a private friendly against Burnley on Tuesday.
Coutts has been sidelined by a hip injury and last featured for the Rams in their opening pre-season friendly against Matlock Town in early July.
The Scot also missed seven months of last season after he dislocated a kneecap and chipped a piece of bone off his thigh in the Capital One Cup defeat against Leicester City in September.
