Dajaune Brown described the ‘unreal’ feeling after recently scoring his first senior goal for Derby County ahead of their midweek clash at Coventry City on Wednesday (7:45pm kick-off).
Academy graduate Brown netted his first senior goal for the club in the 1-1 draw with Hull City at Pride Park Stadium at the end of last month.
The 19-year-old’s goal saw the Rams take a point in their fourth unbeaten game in a row in the Sky Bet Championship before Stoke City ended that run as Derby fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat in the Potteries on Saturday.
Paul Warne’s side will be looking to bounce back from defeat when they head to the Coventry City Building Society Arena to face the Sky Blues on Wednesday night.
Brown spoke to RamsTV to reflect on getting his first Derby goal and making an impact from the bench of late.
On entering the field as a substitute against Hull City…
I was a bit nervous since I've not played a lot in the Championship so far. I wanted to come and take my opportunity. That was my main goal, to come on and try and show what I can do really - get myself about and be a menace. The gaffer had said a few times that I'd been doing well leading up to the game and the same was coming from Matt Hamshaw. I did think there was more of a chance I'd get on. I just went through the same processes as always from my side to build up coming into the game.
On scoring a header from a Ben Osborn free kick…
It wasn't planned on in training, because obviously with me not starting the team weren't really planning free kicks around me. When the free kick was down, Ben Osborn did look up and he made eye contact with me. So, I think he did pick me out. It was an unreal feeling. My dad was there as well at the game, so it was an extremely proud moment. To do it at Pride Park as well was incredible. I saw my dad at the end of the game, and he was flying! He was on a video call with my mum in the stadium too. Even as I left the stadium, the security guys were telling me how my dad was running around over the moon when I scored! It was a great feeling to make him so happy.
On being comfortable in the first team environment…
It takes me a while to settle in, but now I feel like I've been around it long enough to be myself and be comfortable in the first team environment.
On recent results and wanting to push for more…
The results we've been having have been settled on fine margins. We have just been trying to iron those mistakes out and try to sort out the little issues in order to change the results in our favour. When there are three games in a week, not everyone can play 90 minutes. Therefore, everybody in the whole squad is really pushing to be ready and trying hard to try and get the results that we need.