Mason Mount said it was 'unbelievable' to return to action in Derby County’s 6-1 demolition of Rotherham United last weekend and hopes they can use that performance to springboard into the final games of the season.
The young midfielder had been out of action for two months recovering from a hamstring injury he sustained against Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup at the end of January and his impact was immediately seen on his return.
The Rams dominated from start to finish in the first game back following the international break against the Millers with Mount at the core.
He hopes that the confidence from that game will carry through for the final eight games of the season as Derby push for the play-offs.
“It was a long time being out and it was very hard,” Mount told RamsTV.
“As a footballer you want to have an effect on the game and help the boys out and when you can’t do that it is very hard.
“It was unbelievable to be back and the reception the fans gave me was great. There was relief being back on the pitch.”
He added: “The international break came at a good time for me to get my fitness back up and we were all ready for the game.
“It was a big game, it’s the last few where we really have to push and keep going. We started off perfectly with the three points and how the game went we can take that confidence into the next game.”
Mount was ever present in his return, winning the penalty that lead to the opening goal before scoring the fourth and assisting Duane Holmes for the fifth goal.
The 20-year-old on-loan Chelsea player explained that it was a relief to score again at Pride Park, his last home goal came against this weekend’s opposition Brentford from a free-kick.
“It feels good to be back on the scoresheet, it’s been a long time,” he explained.
“I think it had been six months since I scored at Pride Park so that was a focus of mine in my first game back to get back on the scoresheet. I did that and hopefully now I can build on that.”
In the reverse fixture, the Bees opened the scoring in the first minute from a corner, but the Rams quickly turned the game around.
After goals from Harry Wilson, David Nugent and Mount they found themselves leading 3-1 at the break which is how the game finished.
Mount is under no illusion though that Thomas Frank’s side are strong, despite sitting 13th in the league, and are made even stronger at their home stadium of Griffin Park.
He said: “We know Brentford are a good team. We had a very good result against them at home and the way we played then was probably quite similar to the way we played in the last game.
“Away from home is a different ball game. The stadium is tight and it is tough to go there and win. Although they are not doing very well at the moment, we need to go and produce what we did in the last game.”