Youngster will Luke to push on from debut with Rams
LUKE Plange is aiming to build on his Derby County debut.
The 19-year-old striker appeared as a second-half substitute in the Rams’ 1-0 defeat by Bristol City at Ashton Gate at the weekend.
He has impressed manager Wayne Rooney and is in contention to start when Blackpool visit Pride Park Stadium today.
Plange has been in good scoring form for the under-23s this season and was nominated for the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award.
The former Arsenal Academy player joined the under-23s in the summer following a successful trial at the end of last season and has made quick progress.
“In the last Under-23s game that I played in, which was a 5-3 win at Arsenal last month, I tried to perform the best I could to try and push myself into the first team and get some minutes,” Plange told RamsTV.
“I’d been training with the first team during the week leading up to last weekend and in the back of my head I thought that I might be involved in the game at Bristol City.
“I tried not to be nervous when I was told I’d be coming on and to keep my cool. I wanted to be composed and just play the same way as I usually do but with more intensity and do what I could for the team.
“There were a few nerves, of course. There were a lot of fans there, but it was a great experience altogether for me, despite the result.
“I will just keep doing what I’m doing and try to keep improving as a player.
“My goal is just to stay in the first team but if I am playing with the Under-23s I will do whatever I can every time I pull on the shirt.
“If the chance comes, it would be a great experience to play my first home game in front of the fans.”
Rooney said he would have no worries about starting Plange against Blackpool today.
“I thought he did well when he came on. I thought he was positive, carrying the ball he did well. We are pleased to have him in the squad and he will get more game time,” the manager said after the Championship clash at Ashton Gate.
Plange was included in the squad at Bristol for the first time following productive talks between Derby and the EFL which resulted in an agreement being reached that allows the player to be selected.
Derby were under a transfer embargo at the time Plange signed for the under-23s last summer, making him ineligible for the first team, but the situation has now changed.
“It wasn’t right for the player to get punished that way. Thankfully, the EFL agreed and we were allowed to play him,” said Rooney.
“I’ve brought young players into the squad this season where I have been forced to but I think for Plange, for Liam Thompson, they are exam
ples of players who have put the hard work in with the under-23s, who have shone in that under-23 team and deserve to come up and be part of the squad.”
Rooney was asked about the chances of Plange being handed a first start against Blackpool.
“There is no reason why I wouldn’t put him in to start a game,” he said.
“Obviously, we look at the opposition, we look at their strengths and weaknesses. If I feel he can be a threat for us and he is a different option for us, then I have no worries in putting him in from the start.
“In terms of playing first-team football, it is different to playing under-23s.
“For instance, Liam Thompson played the last four games in a short period of time and so we need to make sure physically and mentally they can handle that as well, rather than just technically.
“That is where I have a decision whether to dip them in and out of the team.”