Midfielder Ebou Adams made clear Derby County's commitment and desire to get their ‘heads down’ and work to turn their form around ahead of playing Norwich City in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday (3pm kick-off).
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The 29-year-old has been an ever-present in the Rams team with 28 appearances and four goals in the second tier this season.
Derby have a key period of fixtures coming up following a frustrating spell of results in the Championship since the new year period - with the Rams looking to turn around their fortunes.
Saturday’s opponents, Norwich City, were also the club that gave Adams his first break in the professional game, as he was signed by the Canaries from non-league football at the age of 20.
Adams spoke with RamsTV ahead of Saturday’s clash at Carrow Road to reflect on recent results, the new recruits in the building and knuckling down to get points on the board.
On feeling the impact of recent results…
It's one of those where you're just so close, but so far. We're doing really well in games, we're staying in them and we're getting chances to probably take the points home or take it away from the opponent. When you feel like you're so close, it really hurts. It probably doesn't just hurt me, it hurts everyone. It is frustrating because we're so close, but so far, it's annoying. If we keep pushing, I think we'll do all right. We're creating chances, having teams on the back foot, and I think that shows we're doing OK. It's all good saying that, but we've got to get the points on the board.
It hurts seeing us lose by that one-odd goal. It has happened many times this season. If we can just flip that, then we can start moving up the league. It just shows how close to call them games have been - we're in it but the opposition maybe get the lucky break to get it in, and maybe it can start happening for us. If we can turn the moments of the game into our favour then we could be handsome at the table, but it's easy saying that. If we can get our heads down and focus on it all, then we can turn it around.
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On helping out January recruits Salvesen, Clarke, Langas and Armstrong…
When a new player comes in, it's not easy. We hope to make them feel welcome, make them feel themselves and that they can enjoy their football. That's important because it's not easy coming to another club, let alone from another country.
I take pride in hopefully to make them feel as settled as they can be, as welcome as much as they can feel and to be themselves. It's all good to see them happy, smile on the pitch, and hopefully it can carry on. It's good to have a chat with them and make them feel welcome.
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On his journey from non-league to the Championship, and Norwich’s role in his rise…
I more or less just focused on where I was at the time [in non-league with Dartford]. There were always aspirations to aim higher, which I still have now and always will. It's funny how it works because I just played non-league, and I got to the age of 20, so then I thought there's no point in trying to aim high and just see how it goes. Before you know it, interest comes in, and then you end up moving on and it's a journey that I've embraced and enjoyed. It makes me who I am today because it's never an easy road. From what I've learned from it, it is important to enjoy the moment because you never know what's going to happen the next day. Now I’m lucky enough I've become an international player and played in the Championship for Derby County, so I can't take that for granted.
When I was first in non-league, Norwich were the ones that took me out of it, which I'm grateful for. They gave me an opportunity, which was really good. I heard from an agent that they were interested. I obviously looked at the table and saw they were in the Premier League, at the time, and couldn't believe it! I didn't take much notice of it, but I got a call the week after saying that Norwich were really interested. I was looking at the phone on the way to work and couldn’t believe it, but they took me on. I enjoyed it. I didn't manage a first-team experience, but it was a nice club and I'm looking forward to going back there, but I'm looking forward to bringing something home as well.
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On needing to take points away from games and the commitment to climb the table…
There's no guarantee. There's no guarantee in what we're going to bring home, but we will give everything. That's the most important thing, because I know the whole team will do that, because we want to change our run. It's not a nice run and we all know that. We're going to get our heads down and do what we can and make sure we make it difficult for them. We want to bring something home from Norwich. We're not going there just to sit back and enjoy the scenery. We're going there to try and cause an upset and hopefully bring something home.
