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Curtis Davies made his return to action with Derby County on Saturday in the Rams’ 3-1 win over Birmingham City.

The 33-year-old had been sidelined since the opening day of the season against Reading, where the central defender picked up a hamstring injury that kept him out for two months.

Frank Lampard had brought the Leytonstone-born defender back into his plans via the bench in recent weeks, but did not feature for anything more than a five-minute run out against Sheffield United.

A two-month wait for regular action clearly took its toll on the 6ft 2in tall former Birmingham ace in his return against his former side. But after a sluggish display in the opening 45 minutes, Davies settled into the tie after the break.

The 6 foot 2 centre-back set WhoScored’s joint second highest rating of all Rams players on Saturday, having completed 93% of his 106 attempted passes while also winning six aerial duels and each of his three tackles – all coming in the second half.

His presence in the games was certainly noted by these Derby fans, who also noticed his improvements after the break.