Forward Lewis Dobbin is thoroughly enjoying the first loan spell of his career and says he ‘couldn’t have asked for a better bunch’ than the squad he’s joined at Derby County.
The Everton youngster joined the Rams on a season-long loan in early August and has featured in every game since his arrival, starting three matches and coming off the bench in a further three.
He’s shown his versatility already and has been deployed as a lone striker, on the wing, and in support of a centre forward already in his time at Pride Park Stadium and registered his first assist in Derby’s 1-0 Carabao Cup Round Two win against West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday night, which has set up a huge Round Three clash away to Liverpool in November.
And ahead of the side’s return to Sky Bet League One action this Saturday (27th August) - when the Rams host Peterborough United in a 3pm kick-off - Dobbin joined RamsTV to discuss settling into his first loan, his recent displays, the Carabao Cup draw and the impact of the Rams’ faithful.
On being out on loan…
We’re not given any set goals; we’re just told to show what we’re capable of and earn a spot when you go back to Everton. That’s the aim and I just want to improve, learn and gain experience. I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch of lads here. They’ve made me feel so welcome and there’s a real family feel to it, so I’m already comfortable and ready to win games. It’s been a bit of a surprise how quickly I’ve felt part of the squad and that’s really good.
On the Carabao Cup draw…
There aren’t many times you get to play at Anfield against Liverpool and have that experience. As a squad, we’ve definitely earned it with the performance we put in on Tuesday night. The young lads all stepped up and it’s a nice reward. We don’t want to stop there, though. We’ll go there to try and win the game. Coming from Everton, it’s a big thing for me so I’m excited and looking forward to it. As an Everton boy, it’s the big one so hopefully I can do them proud on the night.
On his performances…
I didn’t have the biggest of pre-seasons, so I didn’t get the minutes I wanted. I’m getting sharper now and getting a feel for it. I’m feeling good. I need to improve on my end product, so to get my stats up - like with my assist on Tuesday - will be a good thing and that’s a personal goal.
On the make-up of the Derby squad…
I’m very close to Kwaku Oduroh, Haydon Roberts and Louie Sibley – basically all of the young lads. But we’re all a big group really, there’s no divide in the squad and the younger players and experienced ones hang out together. It’s one big squad.
On the Rams’ style of football…
I’m really enjoying playing out from the back and keeping the ball. It’s a good and positive way of playing and I think the more we do it this season, the better we’ll get at it and the more we’ll punish teams. It’s frustrating not to be scoring the goals on the road because we’re playing really, really well. Once it clicks, we’ll get into gear and I think we’ll be hard to stop.
On the busy schedule…
The more minutes you can have the better, and we have a good squad with real depth, so I don’t think that’s anything we need to worry about. It’s a big game against Peterborough but we think we can go and play anyone. We’ll go into the game with full confidence and hopefully the home supporters will get behind us and we can get three points.
On the impact of Derby’s supporters…
The atmosphere at Pride Park is very good and the fans are positive, even when we make a mistake or are under the cosh. They get behind us and that helps us get through the 90 minutes. It’s crazy to have crowds so big but I wouldn’t expect anything less from the Derby fans - that’s how I like it.
