Crazy Days

Midfielder says his rise from the Academy to international football in two years is 'crazy'.

Jeff Hendrick says time is flying by - two years on from making his first-team debut for Derby County.

If ever a timely reminder was needed of just how far the 21-year-old powerhouse central midfielder has come in such a short space of time, his substitute appearance for the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday evening as a substitute against England, in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley, was exactly that.

A product of Derby’s highly-acclaimed Academy, Hendrick only made his Rams bow on 23rd April 2011 as an 80th minute substitute in replace of Robbie Savage as Derby went down 4-2 at Pride Park Stadium against Burnley.

Just over two years later, he has 94 first-team appearances to his name, as well as two full international caps and a further six outings for his country at Under 21 level.

Although Hendrick says the last two years have been more than he could have dreamed of, he’s adamant he needs to build on his early successes in order to remain a regular for both club and country.

“It’s been crazy really; I think that’s the best way of summing it up,” he told Rams Player.

“Two years ago I had just made my first team debut and went away with the Ireland Under 19 side during the summer.

“Since then, it’s been amazing I guess in so many ways.

“First I stepped up to the Ireland Under 21s, then I became a regular at Derby and now I am in the senior squad.

“Time has flown by really, I can still remember my first-team debut and playing in the youth international matches like it was yesterday.

“I am really happy with how things are working out for me now and it’s important I build on it as well.”

He added: “I’ve been given a chance by Derby, where young players are given an opportunity, and that’s helped get me noticed for Ireland and given me confidence at the same time.”

After holding England to a creditable 1-1 draw on Wednesday, Ireland have three more matches on their fixture list in the next week and a half against Georgia (friendly), Faroe Islands (World Cup Qualifier) and Spain (friendly).

Hendrick hopes to be able to add to his two international caps and he says the whole experience of being away with the full Ireland squad is a huge learning curve.

He said: “It’s great to be part of the set-up and I feel like I am learning every single day.

“You learn things off the players every day in training and, of course, in matches too.

“That’s been the case since we joined up with the squad last weekend and with two more weeks to come, I’ll be learning plenty more and I can’t really wait for it.

“We’ve got some good games coming up so if I can get a bit more action I’ll be very happy.”

Reviewing the experience of facing England and his 17 minutes on the pitch earlier this week, Hendrick said: “It was great to come on and I felt I did alright for the short time I was on.

“It was my first time at Wembley. It’s an amazing stadium and to play against a strong English side is brilliant.

“It felt like I was warming up forever in the second half but I was told to get myself ready at half-time and stay warm.

“It was good to come on and help the team draw the game because it was more than just a friendly.”

He added: “I didn’t think about it at the time, but on reflection to play against people like Frank Lampard and Michael Carrick is brilliant for me as they’re top players.”

Watch Jeff Hendrick’s full interview on Rams Player.