Former Birmingham City fitness coach Dave Carolan has taken on a new role at Derby County. After returning to Birmingham City as a technical performance coach to assist interim manager Gary Rowett’s back-room staff at the end of last season, Carolan departed along with Rowett and Paul Robinson following the club’s relegation to League One.

Carolan, who previously worked at Derby under Rowett, has rejoined the Rams in the Championship after spending two seasons in League One under Paul Warne. He will work under Warne as the club’s first-team performance coach, a position he held at Pride Park between April 2017 and June 2018, before Rowett’s move to Stoke City.

In addition to his time at Birmingham and Derby, Carolan spent almost four years working with Rowett before their departure from the New Den last October. He has also held consultancy roles at Ipswich and Aston Villa and spent a decade as the head of sports science at Norwich City, where he contributed to the Canaries’ promotion to the Premier League under Nigel Worthington.

Carolan initially joined Birmingham City and Rowett in the summer of 2015 after a seven-year stint as a sports scientist and fitness coach at Colchester United.

Ahead of pre-season, Carolan shared his excitement on X: “3 weeks later, as my feet haven’t touched the ground. Delighted to re-join @dcfcofficial after 6 years away & see so many old faces who have kept the place going, as well as so many new ones who’ve joined over the years. Not long til the start of another season in the @EFL @SkyBetChamp.”