Mason Bennett is determined to contribute to a successful campaign for Derby County’s Under-23s, as Darren Wassall’s side get set to face Everton in the Premier League International Cup on Tuesday night.
The forward made his comeback in a Premier League – Division One defeat against Leicester City 10 days ago before playing a key role as the Rams bounced back with an impressive 2-1 victory against Middlesbrough in the Premier League Cup last Friday.
Bennett could feature in a third competition for the Under-23s, and he wants to create a lasting impact by helping the side to reach the knock-out stages.
He told RamsTV: “In any game I play, all I want to do is win, that’s my mentality and a lot of the lads are the same.
“When we come down to the Under-23s, we’re not just here to run around and get our fitness back, we want to help the team to win games.
“Hopefully we can get the result and then the lads can kick on in the competition.”
The Rams were beaten 1-0 by Everton in the league meeting at Pride Park Stadium earlier in the campaign, but Bennett believes that Wassall’s side are full of confidence and ready to take the game to their opponents as they look to make it two wins from two in Group C.
He said: “Everton have got a great academy, they’ve got a lot of young lads coming through into the first team now, so we know that it’s going to be a tough game and we’re going to have to work hard to get a result.
“We’ll be full of confidence, we can take what we did on Friday into that game and try to get a few more goals because, especially for the forwards, that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Bennett, the youngest player in Derby’s history, also gave an update on his progress so far, as he aims for a return to the first team fold.
He added: “I’m still a couple of games away, but I’m working hard in training every day, doing extras to get back to where I was so hopefully it won’t be too long until I’m back with the first team.
“As a young pro, you always have that motivation, for me it’s just about maintaining that so that I can keep knocking on the door and hopefully get my chance.”
