The defender was forced off with a tight hamstring after half an hour of the 6-1 thrashing at Cardiff in midweek and looks unlikely to recover in time, pushing the number of players unavailable to manager Nigel Clough into double figures.
Fellow centre-half Miles Addison, who missed the trip to the Welsh capital, has seen a specialist about his foot injury.
Clough plans to restore on loan Everton striker James Vaughan to his starting line-up after resting him at Cardiff, while the Rams boss will hope full-back Paul Connolly (foot) and forward Kris Commons (hamstring) can return to contention.
