Josh Lelan feels it is only a matter of time before results turn for Derby County’s Under 23s ahead of tonight’s ‘massive’ meeting with Tottenham Hotspur.
Darren Wassall’s side head to the Lamex Stadium, Stevenage, looking for a return to winning ways against a Spurs side that reside a place below the Rams in the Premier League 2 Division 1 standings, kick-off: 7pm.Lelan has been a consistent figure in the Derby backline since returning to the club in October and turned in one of his best performances in the Premier League Cup outing against Colchester United a week ago with his display drawing great praise from Craig Short.
The 21-year-old is, of course, a name that many Derby supporters will have heard of before.
The Kenyan international came through the club’s academy set-up before moving to Northampton Town last summer – a transfer that marked as his first venture into senior football.
After leaving at the end of last season following the Cobblers’ promotion to Sky Bet League 1, Lelan was given the opportunity to return to the club to bolster Wassall’s backline resources – a move that the defender feels is a perfect fit for both parties at this time.
He takes up the story in a discussion with dcfc.co.uk last week: “I bumped into Pat (Lyons) at one of the first team games and it was mentioned that the Under 23s were short on defenders.
“I didn’t think anything of it to be honest, but through a mutual friend, I was given an opportunity to come back. At the time, I wasn’t getting any consistent training – I had had interest from a couple of clubs, but there was nothing concrete.
“I needed that training and, hopefully, some game time. It’s a perfect fit for me. I left a lot of good people here and a lot of them are still here. It’s a breath of fresh air to be back at the club.”
Derby Under 23s’ head into their meeting with Tottenham tonight on the back of consecutive draws.
The first – a 0-0 stalemate – came against a high-flying Liverpool side two weeks ago, before the Rams opened their Premier League Cup account with a hard fought 2-2 draw at Colchester United.
Tonight is the Rams’ last Premier League 2 outing of the calendar year and a mark of significance hands over the fixture as Derby know that a victory over Spurs will lift them out of the bottom two after Reading fell to a 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Saturday.
On this evening’s away trip, Lelan said: “We’re playing some big clubs. We have got Tottenham on Monday; we faced Liverpool two weeks ago and have also played at Manchester United, Sunderland and Chelsea.
“That’s great for the players developing here. We’re building up to Christmas now and have played well in our last two games. We feel we are due a win off the back of those performances. The game on Monday is massive for us.
“We just need to get some consistency in results. We have got it in terms of our work rate. I am hopeful that the results are just around the corner.”
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