3/1 To Win
Oakwell has been a happy hunting ground for Derby County striker Chris Martin.
The 30-year-old has enjoyed success at Barnsley's home ground, scoring four goals in all in South Yorkshire during spells with Norwich City, Fulham and the Rams.
That includes a memorable brace in a 2-1 win for Derby in December 2013. He netted early in the game before doubling the lead just after half time to move the Rams into the top two at the time.
Fast forward six years and Martin is in contention to lead the line at Oakwell as the Rams take on Barnsley aiming to secure back-to-back wins for the first time in the league this season, following Saturday's 3-2 win at home to Birmingham City.
“I have a few good memories at Oakwell from both here and other clubs as well,” he told RamsTV.
“It has been a place where I have been fortunate enough to get some good results and a few goals at, so more of the same please.”
More of the same please, indeed.
Martin has enjoyed a new lease of life under manager Phillip Cocu.
The striker has repaid the manager’s trust by netting back-to-back goals.
He scored the equaliser against Leeds United at Elland Road and then notched his first Pride Park goal since November 2017 in the 3-2 win against Birmingham.
He opened the scoring within 90 seconds in a valuable win for the Rams on Saturday.
“It was much needed after the week we had last week,” he admitted. “It was about getting a win whatever way possible and it was an extremely eventful game in the end.
“It was a proud moment to score at Pride Park again after a few years but ultimately it’s only one goal and I want to kick on from here. I just want to continue to improve and keep contributing to the team, whether that’s from the beginning or coming on.
“I think the last couple of games have shown the squad effort that it’s going to take throughout the rest of the season.
“The people coming in are contributing, getting results and getting points for us. Jack Marriott, the other day, set up the winner with a left-footed pass. There was no sulking involved in anyone that was taken out of the line-up and that’s what we are going to need moving forward.
“A lot has been made of my situation being away a lot on loan in recent seasons and it makes for a good story but at the minute, in terms of what we are looking at in the dressing room, we are not looking for that sentimentality. We want to stick together and continue to put points on the board.
“Hopefully this can be the start of that, and we can gain some real momentum after the last couple of results.”
And the most important thing now is to build on that three points on Saturday heading into the next two games against Barnsley and Luton Town, who the Rams host this weekend before the October international break.
“It feels to me like we have got some momentum,” Martin admitted. “After a very late equaliser in the game against Leeds, it gave us a little bit of that.
“We weren’t sure how it would go on Saturday after the events of last week, but we managed to get the win and there was a lot of good things that came out of the game.
“I think the performance from everybody, you had Kelle Roos with an excellent save for the penalty which contributed and different people coming in and showing themselves with big performances.
“It feels to me that there is a buzz about the place and hopefully we can continue that momentum into the next couple of games because with a couple of good results, the picture changes very quickly.”
