Derby County captain Curtis Davies says he is 'delighted' to be back in the starting eleven and looking forward to testing himself against Premier League opposition on Monday evening when West Ham United head to Pride Park Stadium in the Fourth Round of the Emirates FA Cup.
After a frustrating couple of months on the sidelines due to injury, Davies has since worked his way back to fitness and has found himself back in the heart of defence in the Rams' last two outings with Eiran Cashin nursing a slight hamstring issue.
Speaking to RamsTV prior to Monday night's cup tie, the skipper reflected on last Tuesday's 2-1 victory at Port Vale, being back in the starting eleven and looked ahead to the meeting with David Moyes' side.
Reflections on Tuesday's win at Port Vale...
It was massive. The manner in which it happened - if we win that 3-0, nobody would have been disappointed - but wouldn't have been as exciting at the end! To go over to almost 4,000 Derby fans at the end was unbelievable. You see what it means to them and I said when we got back in the changing room that it could be a massive three points for us come May.
On where the team are at right now...
We've had it before this season with our games at Morecambe, Fleetwood and Shrewsbury - games we've dominated but not had the cutting-edge to win the game and ended up with a draw. At Port Vale, we always felt like we could win it. It shouldn't have taken their goal to give us a kick up the backside really but it did and then the feeling of getting the three points was electric.
On being back in the starting eleven...
I've always said that I'm a good cheerleader, to a point. I will always support my team-mates, that's my role as a captain and I will always support them on and off the pitch but I prefer to do it on the pitch if I can.
It had been a frustrating time out with the injury but when I came back the team were flying and I had no arguments and nothing to say to the boss or the player that were holding the shirt.
I've been patient and Eiran Cashin got a little niggle which saw me come back into the starting eleven against Bolton. After not playing for two months, coming into a Saturday/Tuesday situation was very interesting.
I felt the Bolton game was quite comfortable and then felt the same with Port Vale considering it was our second game in four days. I'm hoping I can have an extended run in the side now but that's the boss' headache to have and we'll see what happens.
On appreciating playing time more...
At my age, I'm by no means retiring myself, but there's only so many games left in my career. I don't want to be missing 9/10 games in chunks, I want to be playing every match I can. That's just the way I am, that's just how I'm built.
I'd sooner be playing week in week out and I've always said I'd rather retire on my feet than on my backside. I want to play out my years playing in the game rather than fading out into the distance.
On the FA Cup...
My best and worst moment was the FA Cup Final in 2014 for Hull City. The feeling of scoring was a childhood dream, I lived a childhood dream as captain but unfortunately Arsenal had the quality and their quality showed in the end which meant I couldn't lift that trophy.
If you didn't have the 'what ifs' you'd be kidding yourself. I don't know if my years of making FA Cup history have got a chance to better that but we'll give it a good go this year and with West Ham United round the corner, it's another big game to be involved in.
On whether he gets excited for this sort of game still...
Yes and even more-so when you're getting towards the twilight days of your career.
It's a big match because it's a Premier League team and to have the chance to test yourself against these kind of players; Jarrod Bowen, Declan Rice, Michail Antonio - whoever it is going to be, you like to test yourself against the best.
The onus is going to be on them to come and win it but we want to give a good account of ourselves. I don't like the 'free-hit' phrase. Fair enough, the onus is on them but you still want to win a game of football, give a good account of yourself and progress.
I may not have a lot of opportunities to play against these teams again so if I do get the chance to play, I want to do well.
