Derby County's young midfielder Darren Robinson is 'loving' his first pre-season away with the first-team squad.
The 18-year-old Northern Ireland youth international signed his first professional contract with the Rams midway through the 2022/23 campaign and has been impressing during the team's week-long training camp in Spain.
Speaking to RamsTV, Robinson spoke about how much he's enjoying his time with the group and how he's striving to keep improving in the 2023/24 season.
On pre-season training so far...
We all want to get better and get fitter because that's what's going to win games and be at the top of the league so it's been really good seeing everyone sticking together. We all want to be the best we can be and keep doing more. It helps when people are pushing you on and the players and staff have been doing that.
On his first pre-season camp with the first-team...
I'm loving it, it's brilliant. We're out here in Spain and it's very warm. Being in a camp means we're getting bonding time together so it's really good. I'm loving it and I just want to keep kicking on.
On what the environment has been like for him...
It's been brilliant. The meetings we've had have seen us tell our life stories and that's been really good because we've all got different backgrounds and have all grown up differently, so it's given us an insight on what each other are like.
On if he's learning things from the senior professionals...
We have people like Conor Hourihane, Sonny Bradley and James Collins here and they stepped up for their speeches and told us about their careers and how proud they are to have played at high levels and won trophies and I want to be like that too, so I just need to keep working hard.
On signing his first professional deal last season...
It was a very proud moment for me and my family but I'm not just happy with that, I want to earn another one and keep going and keep working hard and keep making them and myself proud. I just need to keep working so that I can achieve that.
On the friendly match against Salford City on Saturday to round off the time in Spain...
It will be a great game. All the lads are looking forward to it after such a tough week in training so we're looking forward to going out there and hopefully putting a performance on.
