Liam Thompson acknowledges that achieving promotion would be a fantastic achievement for the players who were developed in Derby County’s academy. However, he emphasizes that Paul Warne’s team still has a task ahead of them. Needing two wins from their remaining matches to secure promotion back to the second division, Derby aims to redeem itself after a dark period that saw them relegated just two seasons ago. Thompson, alongside Eiran Cashin, Max Bird, and Louie Sibley, represents the academy’s success stories, yet he underlines that despite talk of promotion, there’s a significant amount of work remaining to be done.
“The younger players often talk about it, especially since we’ve been playing together for so long,” he explained. “The idea of achieving something like promotion is incredibly exciting for both the club and those of us who came up through the academy.
“My mom, Louise, was at the game on Saturday, and she was ecstatic. She mentioned how it’s a tremendous opportunity and a chance to create lasting memories. It’s what we all dream of, but we must stay level-headed, focus on the next game, and not get carried away.
“It’s tempting to think ahead and get lost in future possibilities, but we can’t afford that luxury. We do discuss it, but then we remind ourselves, ‘Hey, we’ve got two games left, let’s concentrate on those.’ We need to ensure we give ourselves the best shot because nothing is guaranteed yet.”
Derby’s 3-0 victory against Leyton Orient on Saturday, combined with Portsmouth’s 1-1 draw at Bolton, has put Derby’s destiny back in their own hands, with Paul Warne’s squad now four points ahead of Wanderers in third place.
After squandering glorious chances to stamp their authority in the promotion race this season with defeats against Northampton and a goalless draw against Wycombe, Thompson says Saturday’s trip to Cambridge is a chance not to be wasted.
“The manager said in the dressing room after the game on Saturday that it was an even bigger win because of the results from elsewhere,” he said. “He also said it was a good reaction from Wednesday (at Wycombe). He said we’ve done nothing yet and we now need to prepare for the next game.
“It’s end of the season, we’ve two games left and you want to finish strong. We had the Northampton game and we wanted to win that obviously. We know how important those games are away from home. We know the next two games we have to stamp our authority and make sure we come away with the six points we need.”
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