Fresh from serving his country for the England Under-20s on Monday, Derby County midfielder Louie Sibley is back with the squad as they prepare for a trip to St Andrews to take on Birmingham City on Friday evening.
Sibley, who featured in the Three Lions’ 6-1 victory over Romania at St George’s Park as a substitute, has started the campaign well and played the second-most minutes in the squad so far this season.
He has scored one goal so far this campaign, in the Carabao Cup Round Two defeat against Sheffield United last month, but his ability in and around the box has seen him become a threat to opposition defences.
Usually utilised wide on the right behind the central striker, Sibley has flourished in a new system implemented by manager Wayne Rooney and he feels he is benefitting from getting a good pre-season under his belt.
“I feel like I am doing well,” he admitted, chatting to RamsTV. “I want to play football, so that’s the main thing. I’ve been getting a lot of minutes but the thing for me is consistency.
“I want to keep playing, keep performing and I want to get goals and assists. That is part and parcel of my play.
“I try to be an exciting player. I want to carry on playing my football, getting more goals and assists and carry on my form.”
He added: “I’m playing more on the right at the minute so I feel I can come into midfield, go into the ‘number ten’ spot, which is my favourite position, and get on the ball.
“The work that he’s done by all the staff has been great. The lads are taking it on board, so we feel confident when we are playing.
“In the last few games, we have been confident when we are playing so, hopefully, we can pick up a few wins and keep that form going.”
Sibley returned to training on Wednesday following a short training camp with England’s Under-20s.
Managed by Andy Edwards, the midfielder was part of the squad along with fellow Derby County Academy graduate Lee Buchanan and he enjoyed another successful camp with the Three Lions as he gained his first cap at that level of the England youth set-up.
“It was good,” he said. “When you get an England call up, it’s always a proud moment so it was obviously a good few days away.
“We had some good training sessions and we had a game against Romania. I came on in the last 20 minutes and enjoyed it. It was good to make another appearance but hopefully now I will carry on my form with Derby and I’m looking forward to Friday.”
The Rams kick off this weekend’s packed fixture list in the Friday night fixture as they on Birmingham City in the West Midlands (8pm kick-off).
Sibley has happy memories from his time playing at the Blues’ home ground, scoring in a 3-1 success at the end of the 2019/20 campaign, whilst he also played his part in Derby’s 4-0 success over the Blues last season.
“I scored a goal there, so I have good memories there,” he explained. “We have been playing well, playing good football so for now, the messages that the gaffer and staff have been telling us, we just want to take it in and keep proving people wrong.”