Derby County’s star defender Eiran Cashin has pinpointed one major factor behind their promotion to the Championship.
A long and gruelling League One campaign ended in style for Derby as they clinched automatic promotion.
Paul Warne’s men secured a 2-0 victory over Carlisle United to seal their return to the Championship on the final day, which marked an incredible two years in charge for owner David Clowes.
Clowes arrived during a time when the whole club and fanbase were devoid of any belief. Many supporters almost accepted their fate and felt their beloved football club would cease to exist.
Fast forward two years and the Rams have achieved promotion for the first time in 17 years, with academy graduate Eiran Cashin putting it down to one major factor.
Eiran Cashin believes experience dragged Derby over the line
At the age of 22, Cashin is one of the youngest members of the Derby squad.
Warne’s men fielded a starting XI with an average age of 28 for most of the campaign, and although the Irishman is relatively inexperienced, his colossal performances made up for it.
Cashin was a stalwart alongside Curtis Nelson and the pair built a telepathic understanding with each other having shipped the fewest goals (37) and kept the most clean sheets this term.
Derby’s watertight defence formed the bedrock of their promotion charge, but Cashin believes the experienced pros – including Conor Hourihane, James Collins and Nelson – carried them over the line.
Speaking to RamsTV, the young defender said: “As a young player, you sort of look to the senior lads; Conor Hourihane, Collo, Nels and players like that.
“They were all so focused and zoned in, so you sort of feed off of them. I think it’s been like that all season, when it’s got tough, we’ve looked to the senior lads and they have shown us the way.
“I had some spare clothes packed in the boot of the car just in case we did go up!. You try and not to think about what could happen afterwards, but you do and I was full of excitement and anxiousness.”
Derby County need more than experience in the Championship
Defensive steeliness and experience carried the Rams into the second tier, but Warne has already claimed they’ll need to improve almost every area of their squad to stay afloat.
“It’s been the best league out of all four from an excitement point of view,” Warne said. “We do need change, we need more athleticism which I have been harping on about for ages. We need more goal threat and we need a lot. Any team that doesn’t need to do that must have got 110 points.”
Derby have 12 players out of contract this summer and the majority are expected to depart, although the likes of Hourihane, Louie Sibley, Joe Wildsmith and Collins could be given new deals.
Even so, as Warne alluded to, the Rams need increased firepower and goal threat in the final third.
They often struggled to score in the third tier, in fact, Derby scored the joint-fewest goals (78) of teams that finished in the playoffs.
Their top scorer Collins finished on 14 league goals, which is a respectable return for the 33-year-old, but one he’ll find hard to replicate in the Championship.
Indeed, one of Warne’s main priorities this summer will be to find a long-term replacement for their top scorer, perhaps one who has experience and pedigree in the second tier.
If they can find some attacking talent in the window to go with their strong backline, Derby could emerge as the division’s latest surprise package.
The post ‘Shown us the way...’: Eiran Cashin now pinpoints one major factor behind Derby County's promotion appeared first on Derby County News.