Derby County boss says striker Dwight Gayle has quickly shown himself to be a valuable weapon despite being “rusty”.
The 34-year-old, who joined the Rams in February after he left Stoke City, scored his first goal for Derby in Saturday’s win against Port Vale.
It was his first goal for 12 months, and means the ex-Newcastle, Crystal Palace and West Brom forward has now scored in England’s top four divisions.
“It will give him a right boost,” Warne told BBC Radio Derby.
“We know he is rusty, and we also know he can definitely play at this level and he is another threat for us.
“Some of his touches were good again and he took a little bit more rust off.”
Gayle opened his goalscoring account for the Rams in just his third game for the club, having been signed as a free agent after the League One high-flyers lost leading scorer James Collins to injury.
It was his first goal in 23 appearances in the last year, having previously hit the net when he grabbed a double for Stoke against Sunderland in the Championship in March 2023.
He managed only three in total last season, and his goal for Derby was only his fourth in more than three years.
It was also his 125th league goal from 353 appearances over 12 years in the professional game.
Warne said Gayle’s drought between goals was made particularly clear in the build-up to the game against Port Vale, as the coaching team prepared a presentation for strikers with a highlights reel of their scoring efforts.
“We were trying to find Dwight’s and it had been a while, that is the honest truth,” Warne said.
“But it [his first Derby goal] will do him no end of good.”
