3/1 To Win
Craig Short described Luke Thomas as a ‘revelation’ after the winger produced an exceptional performance as Derby County’s Under-23s recorded an outstanding 5-1 win at the London Stadium against West Ham United.
Thomas scored the second before playing a role in both the third and fifth goals as he added to his recent run of superb form under the lights in East London.
Short believes that Thomas is a nightmare for defenders to come up against thanks to his vibrant attacking talents, but he also praised the wideman for his all-round game.
Speaking to RamsTV, he said: “He’s been a revelation this year, he excites you because he plays off the cuff and he’s a really bubbly and popular character.
“There’s nothing worse when you’re a defender because he’s direct and he’s been exceptional all season.
“Especially as a wide player, you need to do your defensive duties and he does that very well.
“He’s been doing a lot of work on his weaker foot, which is good because sometimes we want him to go around the outside of a full-back to get a cross in.”
The Rams played the majority of the game on the counter attack, allowing West Ham possession before winning the ball and breaking forward through the likes of Thomas and the returning Offrande Zanzala.
The striker scored twice on his return to the fold after a loan spell at Chester and Short was pleased with his contribution to Derby’s game plan.
On Zanzala, he said: “He’s got a lot of pace and he uses it really well, he looked a threat all night, once he scores, he’s always full of confidence and full of running.
“He’s been away on loan and he didn’t get the game time that he wanted, so we didn’t expect him to last the full 90 minutes tonight, but he was excellent.
“West Ham had a lot of possession tonight and we knew that they would, so we defended a little bit deeper and used our pace.”
