INTERVIEW: Murkin Reflects on Start to Life with the Rams

It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for Derry Murkin since he arrived as a deadline day signing.

Having played for FC Utrecht against Heerenveen in the Eredivisie at the start of February, the 26-year-old defender was then whisked away and, less than 24 hours later, signed for the Rams on a permanent deal.

He was thrown in at the deep end against Ipswich Town five days later and is already proving his value to the squad, the highlight being two assists against Blackburn Rovers in the 3-1 win last week.

Murkin, who was named in the EFL Championship Team of the Week for his display against Rovers, sat down with RamsTV to look back on his start to life in Derby and settling into the area after joining in the winter transfer window, as well as looking ahead to Saturday’s Pride Park clash.

On Settling into His New Life at Derby County

It’s been good - it’s always strange when you come into a new environment with a bunch of people you've never seen before, you don't know.

But everyone's been welcoming, and the group of lads has been good, so it's been easy to fit in.

On the reaction of his family to the move

My family was very excited - my dad, in particular. He texted me after the game against Blackburn - they watched it on RamsTV!

It seems as though I’ve been missed back in Holland, which is nice. But everyone I used to play with and my friends back in Holland - they were hoping that I got the minutes I wanted. Everyone’s just been really pleased for me.

On his relationship with the rest of the squad

On the first day, I got pretty close with Oscar Fraulo because he used to play in Utrecht as well, so we both knew people from there. We've been getting along, and the other boys have been welcoming.

We played some darts with Oscar, Lars-Jørgen Salvesen, and Lewis Travis the other day. Everyone's been very welcoming. Jaydon Banel is another one - I’ve been speaking Dutch with him, too.

On his Debut Against the Tractor Boys

I didn’t expect to make my debut so quickly. The gaffer asked me if I was ready. And of course, I was ready to play. It was a good challenge to start against one of the best clubs in the league. It was a tough match. But I was just happy to play some minutes.

On His Performance in the 3-1 Win Over Blackburn Rovers

Of course, I was happy because I got two assists. But I think it was most important that we won and that we put in a performance that was the opposite of the first half. Apart from the first five minutes when we were a bit shaky, I think we dominated the second half completely.

On Life in the Championship

I expected it to be physical. And it's been physical in a different way – there are a lot more hard tackles and end-to-end football. I've had a little bit of that when I played in Germany. It's been a bit similar, only I think the level of football here is higher as well.

It's more demanding that you perform, really, at the weekend. In Germany, sometimes the attitude was: ‘As long as we play well, we can build.’

But here, you want results and definitely with the position we're in, with eyes on the play-offs. So, it's important that we win. We did that last weekend, and hopefully we can repeat that.

On Facing Sheffield Wednesday

We know it's a bit of a weird situation for them, because, on one hand, they’ve been relegated - on the other, they've got nothing to lose. So, you don’t know how they're going to perform, and it's up to us to show what we can do.