It may have taken until the final month of his planned loan spell, but Tyreece John-Jules finally made his first league start for Derby County this weekend.

When Tyreece John-Jules joined Derby County in August, the initial terms of the loan only lasted until January.

It’s not clear whether that meant the start of the month, the end of the month, or some point in between, but he remains on loan at the time of writing.

John-Jules has had some problems with injury in recent seasons, and that history was presumably behind the decision not to commit him for the full campaign.

That initially appeared to be a wise decision, with the striker suffering an early injury setback ruling him out from September until late November.

But the 22-year-old then made his comeback, scoring in a couple of substitute appearances at the end of November and start of December.

Derby have been in good form this season, pushing for promotion from League One, so it was no surprise not to see John-Jules immediately slotting into the starting lineup.

Even if he didn’t have a history of recurring injuries, John-Jules needed to win his place ahead of starters who were already performing well.

But the Arsenal man finally got his first chance in the lineup on Saturday, helping Derby to a 3-1 win over Fleetwood Town.

John-Jules played 63 minutes of the League One fixture, and he’ll have another chance to feature when Derby play their next EFL Trophy match against Bradford City on Tuesday.

Derby have five more matches before the end of the month. Assuming that’s when John-Jules’ deal expires, he has five games to earn an extension to the end of the season.