Swift response from Warne when he was wondering about Cambridge game

DERBY County can seal a magical return to the Championship today when they face Carlisle United at Pride Park as the League One season draws to a close.

In what is their final assignment of the season, the Rams need only a point to clinch promotion and seal their place back in the second tier.

But earlier this week, head coach Paul Warne took time out from the pressures of the week to reveal the perhaps unexpected way he has found of relaxing before big games.

Warne revealed how Taylor Swift’s new album helped with the melancholy he felt before the win away to Cambridge United which has put them on the brink of promotion.

The Rams head coach masterminded a 1-0 victory at the Abbey Stadium which left them only needing just a point to reach the second tier.

But before the game, Warne was feeling emotional and tuned into Swift’s new album, the Tortured Poets Department, before telling his players to savour every moment as

they chase glory.

“I am all over it (the album),” he said.

“I am all over the song Fortnight with Post Malone. I cannot stop listening to it.

“I am a massive Swiftie as everybody knows. I felt a bit of melancholy before the game because it’s the end of the season and you’re trying to make your family proud.

“It was also my neck of the woods a little bit and that I was not far from home.

“The sun was out which makes me feel close to my dad so I chose music.

“Usually, it’s AC/DC and I want to fight the world. I was just a bit kinder to myself.

“I am telling you way too much here but I was listening to a podcast before the game that was saying in 20 to 30 years’ time, you would give everything you own to go back and live this day.

“I won’t be alive in 30 years. And that’s true. I am always hard on myself, the coaching staff are hard on themselves, the players are. And I just said to them all, let’s enjoy it.

“In 20 years I want them to look back and think, ‘I can remember that Cambridge game, it was great.’

“That’s why I went down the Taylor Swift route and why I was a bit melancholic before the game.”

Paul Warne holding court in an after-match press conference. Not too many managers would be talking about how they listened to Taylor Swift (inset, right) before a big match.