Sondre Langas has admitted he’s thriving off the ‘crazy’ fan reception and the physicality of the Sky Bet Championship as he settles into life at Derby County.
Langås made his second appearance for the Rams as they kept a clean sheet and claimed a point in a battling performance in a 0-0 draw against Oxford United on Tuesday night.
He made his debut a few days beforehand as they secured another point away from home in a 1-1 at Norwich City on Saturday. The 24-year-old joined from Viking FK during the transfer window and reunited with team-mate Lars-Jørgen Salvesen who signed earlier in the month.
Derby will play Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road on Friday evening as new Head Coach John Eustace will take on his first game in charge of the Rams.
Langås caught up with RamsTV ahead of Friday’s match against the R's.
On being welcomed to the group…
I feel I'm starting to get settled down now. I have an apartment and a car. That's the most important thing besides football. I can focus 100% on football now. It's been a good start for myself, so I'm looking forward to the next game.
My team-mates have been very supportive of me. They've been easy to talk to if I needed something to say something on the pitch. When the first game started against Norwich, it was like I'd played with them before. We were talking to each other out on the pitch, and it was really good. I love that. The fans have been massive for me. It's crazy how much I've felt the love of the fans already.
On being Player of The Match against Oxford and the reaction to his defending…
I'm really surprised [by the reaction]. For me, these small fights in a game. I just love that. I'm just shocked how much people talk about it. It's just fun.
On reuniting with Viking FK team-mate Salvesen…
It's great to have him here. I'm really happy to be here with him because we like to be with each other. It's just nice to have someone I know to have that safety.
On dealing with the physicality of the game…
I feel I have handled that side surprisingly well. I haven't played a game since the start of December. It's been a tough week. I'm doing everything to be ready for the
next game. I feel like I've done a really good job before I came here
with an off-season home in Norway. Physically, I'm feeling really fit.
[In this league] you can just go all in with the duals. It's as I
expected it to be and I like it!
