Eiran Cashin has taken to the Sky Bet Championship like a duck to water as Derby County prepare for a trip to Ewood Park to face Blackburn Rovers tomorrow night (7:45pm kick- off).
The central defender has been in impressive form since making his full senior debut against Peterborough United at Pride Park Stadium back in February.
He has drawn praise from all quarters including team-mates, supporters and from the manager Wayne Rooney who has been delighted with the consistency of Cashin’s performances.
The 20-year-old has been an assured figure alongside the experienced Curtis Davies as the Rams continue to battle against relegation from the division.
And he is in line to feature tomorrow night as Derby head to the north west to take on Tony Mowbray’s Rovers side, who are eying a place in the Premier League next season.
Cashin, who has made 10 appearances in total this campaign, starting the last six matches, has been pleased with the way things have gone so far and is learning game by game.
“I think it’s gone well, to be fair,” he admitted, chatting to RamsTV. “When you are playing alongside Curtis Davies, it makes it a lot easier.
“He’s such a great leader and a great player. He talks to you all the time and makes everything so simple which is always good.
“Having Ryan Allsop behind us, who is so composed on the ball, is easy. I can just play it to him and let him deal with it but it’s been good.
“It’s been challenging and I’m still learning but hopefully I can carry on and keep progressing.”
He added: “I am coming up against experienced professionals. They try and pin you and nudge you when the referee isn’t looking. It’s things like that which you get used to and I’ve got to get used to.
“I’m quite confident that I can come up against most strikers and I can do my job. I will work harder, run harder, tackle harder and I will make sure they are in for a good fight.
“I’m learning from everyone, the coaches and the players. There are a lot of experienced players giving me a lot of advice.”
Derby currently sit five points behind Reading who occupy the place outside the relegation places, but the Rams have played a game more than their rivals.
With nine games left to play, Derby know they need to get points on the board in order to avoid the drop.
That includes turning their away form around which has seen them only win twice on their travels this season.
Blackburn, in contrast, have enjoyed a positive campaign so far, but have stuttered in recent weeks as they eye a promotion to the top flight, and Cashin knows it’s on the Rams to take the game to their hosts.
“It’s going to be tough, we know they are a good team,” he said. “We know how they want to play and we know what we’ve got to do to win the game and hopefully we can score some goals and get the win.”