Derby County were knocked out of the Papa Johns Trophy by Manchester City Under-21s on Tuesday evening as a much-changed Rams side fell to a 3-1 defeat.
Good news did, however, come in the form of Korey Smith, who made his first start since August following a foot injury and he got more than an hour under his belt in the contest at Pride Park Stadium.
Speaking to RamsTV after the final whistle, he spoke of his delight to be back on the pitch and is looking forward to kicking on under the leadership of new Head Coach Paul Warne.
On his first start since August...
It's been a lot longer than I expected but it was nice to get back out on the pitch and get some minutes in the legs. We've got a lot of games coming up and hopefully this will help me moving forward.
On the injury...
I kind of expected with it just being my toe that I'd be back in a week or two but it's hard; you can't push off on it so it took a while. It was really frustrating because there's not much rehabilitation work you can do for that particular injury. I've been working with the medical staff and getting my fitness back in the last few weeks. It was nice to get back on the pitch at the weekend at Accrington Stanley and get some more minutes tonight.
On Paul Warne...
We had a few conversations over the summer when he wanted me at Rotherham and, to be fair, we built a little relationship. He seems like a brilliant manager and a great man. I've enjoyed his first few weeks here and I'm really looking forward to working with him moving forward.
On the defeat to Manchester City Under-21s...
I can't lie it's a strange feeling being the first team and playing against the young lads. Obviously it's kind of like a big cup final for them. We're disappointed with the result but we had a lot of chances. They played some good football but I feel like when we missed those chances, it gave them them confidence and they obviously broke on us a couple of times. Fair play to the boy that got the hat-trick, he was absolutely rapid and scored a couple of good goals.
We've got loads of games coming up and the most important thing for us is the league. We got a good result at the weekend, winning 3-0 at Accrington Stanley, and we want to build on that. We've got a massive game Friday night and lots of big games coming up. I got some minutes in the legs and it was the same for David McGoldrick - it was nice for him to get minutes. That was the most important thing tonight.
On Ipswich Town on Friday...
It's a massive game. Ipswich are a top team and are sitting second in the table. We want to go there and win and start putting a run together of our own. After a really good away result last Saturday, which I was buzzing to be a part of, we're looking to build on that and that's our focus.
