How Will learned to handle scrutiny
ONE of the topics high on the list of Derby County discussion points in 2020 has been the number of young players from the club’s Academy playing a part in the first team.
Jason Knight’s impressive performance helped the Rams to record a first League win of the season in the last game, against Norwich City at Carrow Road.
Lee Buchanan also started, while Max Bird and Morgan Whittaker were among the substitutes, although Louie Sibley missed out through injury.
Sibley’s excellent hat-trick in a victory away to Millwall last season placed him firmly in the spotlight and he is currently the topic of transfer talk, with Leeds United reportedly interested in the 19-year-old.
Former Rams midfielder Will Hughes is a player who knows all about handling transfer talk at a young age.
Next up for Derby is a game against Watford at Pride Park Stadium tomorrow night. Whether or not Hughes is in the Hornets’ squad remains to be seen, as the 25-yearold has not figured this season due to injury.
Watford head coach Vladimir Ivic was hoping Hughes and striker Andre Gray break could return to training this week.
“With Hughes, we’re waiting for him to come back. In this international break, to come back to practise with the team and slowly improve his shape. He’s one option which will be very very good for me,” said Ivic.
Hughes has yet to face Derby since leaving the club to join Watford in the summer of 2017.
Like Knight, Buchanan, Bird, Whittaker and Sibley, Hughes came through the system at Derby and is a
star graduate of the Rams Academy. He made 187 appearances for the club, scoring a dozen goals.
Handed his first senior start by Nigel Clough in a 1-1 home draw in the final game of the 2011-12 season against Peterborough United, Hughes is in no doubt about the impact Clough had on his career.
“I think Nigel Clough had the biggest impact on me. To this day I’d say he had the biggest impact not just on a footballing perspective but as a person as well. He didn’t only teach me a lot on the pitch and give me first-team football, he taught a lot off the pitch as a human being which is even more important,” Hughes is quoted in the newly-released book Pride - the Inside Story of Derby County in the 21st Century, published by Pitch Publishing and written by Rams supporter and sports journalism graduate Ryan Hills.
A crowd of more than 27,000 watched Hughes’ debut and they were treated to a glimpse of the future. Derby had five Academy products in the 16 on duty that day, the others being Jeff Hendrick, Mason Bennett (15), Kwame
Thomas (16) and Josh Lelan (17), but it was Hughes supporters talked about as they streamed away from the stadium on the final whistle.
This is how the Derby Telegraph reported his contribution: “A firstyear scholar, he came in for the injured Jamie Ward and produced one of the most competent full debuts seen from a young Derby player in years.
“Care must be taken not to go overboard on the evidence of one start by one so young, but for somebody who turned 17 less than two weeks ago he handled his big moment with impressive composure.”
Once in the spotlight, Hughes had to cope with constant speculation over his future, not easy for one so young. He was linked with potential moves to the country’s biggest clubs - both Manchester City and United, Liverpool and Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, even Barcelona. Scouts flocked in their numbers to Derby’s games.
“At 15 or 16, it’s easy to get drawn into those rumours when you’re a young player making your way,” said Hughes, “but having Nigel (Clough) as a manager kept my feet on the ground and helped me focus on my football first and foremost and anything that came after that was a bonus.
“It was difficult with the rumours flying about and breaking into the first team so young, but the lads I was around were fantastic with me and didn’t let me get ahead of myself. They were seasoned pros, so they knew 90 per cent of the rumours were just made up in the paper and not to believe anything.”
Pride - the Inside Story of Derby County in the 21st Century, published by Pitch Publishing, £19.99.