Derby County duo show Paul Warne the impact they can make this season

On Saturday, the Rams faced Stoke City in a friendly at Pride Park and Derby manager Paul Warne seemed particularly impressed with two players.

Sonny Bradley signed on a free for Derby this summer following a number of years at Luton Town in the Championship. In his home debut last Saturday, he impressed Warne, who said: “I thought Sonny was really good.”

He impressed with his high intensity even for a friendly game, something that Warne had been focusing on during their preseason tour in Spain: “We spoke a lot in Spain about what motivates the lads, but you have to prove how much it means to you.

“Thats the way I want to play, I want to get the ball back of the opposition as quickly as we can.”

Warne was also in very high praise of striker James Collins who scored against the Potters at Pride Park, he said: “Collins knows there’s a massive responsibility on him to be between the sticks and it was a great goal which capped a really good performance from him. I thought he was excellent.”

With regards to Collins’ effort and intensity, the Derby boss couldn’t have been happier. He said: “He covered every blade of grass and even helped us keep a clean sheet. Most of the pressing came from his energy, his hold up play was very good as well.”

This shows encouraging signs for a Rams team that are desperate for a striker to step up and fill the boots of departed David McGoldrick.