3/1 To Win
For Ikechi Anya, the 2017/18 season was the very definition of ‘stop-start’.
After coming on as a substitute against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Pride Park Stadium in August, Anya had to wait until the end of January to step out on to the pitch again in a Derby County shirt.
The Scot demonstrated his professionalism by making several appearances for Darren Wassall’s Under-23s, and he contributed to the Premier League Cup run to the semi-finals, most notably with two goals and an assist in the group stage against Birmingham City.
On his return to the first team fold at Millwall, Anya thought he had given his side a crucial late lead, only to be denied by the assistant referee, who flagged for offside.
Replays showed that the goal should have stood, and the wide-man admitted that there was a sense of what might have been, had Derby secured the three points on that night in the capital.
He told RamsTV: “It would have been a nice introduction, I had got back into the team and we were flying high in the league, but there are always little things that make you think: ‘what if?’.
“You can’t dwell on that, you have to respect the decision and move on.”
Anya went on to start the next two games, and against Norwich City, he set up his former Watford teammate Matej Vydra for the opening goal.
After a spell in the side, during which he played from the start against Nottingham Forest in the East Midlands derby at the City Ground, Anya was ruled out.
He managed to return for the play-off semi-final second leg against Fulham, and he praised the club’s medical team for getting him back in action well ahead of schedule.
He explained: “It was a freak injury, I went to push off and I just felt something in my calf and after a scan, it turned out to be quite serious.
“I’m very grateful to the medical team because they got me back in really could time – it could have been 12 weeks but in the end, it was only seven or eight.”
Anya impressed at left wing-back at Craven Cottage, but he believes that it just wasn’t Derby’s night.
“It’s still quite fresh so it hurts and it is tough to take.
“We defended for our lives in the first-half and Scotty pulled off some tremendous saves.
“It’s difficult to think of it personally when your teammates are hurting, it’s been a long season but it would have been nice to have one more game at Wembley for the big prize, but it wasn’t to be.”
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