3/1 To Win
George Thorne says he felt the benefits of being ‘drip-fed’ back into action after making his first start in the Sky Bet Championship since May 2016 in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Burton Albion.
The midfielder played 79 minutes and impressed in the middle of the park as Johnny Russell’s late goal saw Gary Rowett’s side eventually break down a stubborn Brewers side and return to winning ways.
The 24-year-old initially made his comeback in the Carabao Cup back in September, but has made seven substitute appearances and played a handful of Under-23s fixtures to gradually build him up to this point.
Thorne felt the meeting with Nigel Clough’s Burton was an ideal one for him to make his first start in, with the visitors’ defensive style of playing allowing him to see plenty of the ball and find his feet.
That said, he hopes his performance has left a lasting impression with Rowett as he aims to now become a regular starter once more.
He told RamsTV: “It’s been a long time! I was delighted to get back out there because there’s been a lot of hard work done to get to this point.
“I have been drip-fed into it over the last couple of months and have had to be patient for this chance because the boys have been playing so well.
“That’s helped as well because there have been times when I have been thrown straight back into it and I haven’t been quite ready.
“During that time, Joe (Ledley) and Tom (Huddlestone) have formed a good partnership and we have been on a good run.
“Rightly so, I’ve had to wait for my chance, but I’m delighted to have got back out there. Hopefully, I’ve given the manager something to think about.”
He added: “The game suited me well today. I was able to get on the ball quite a lot and it was a nice one to come back into.
“It will still take five or six games before I am feeling really sharp instinct wise, but this is a good platform to start on.”
Assessing the game itself, Thorne reiterated the point that patience was always going to be the key to breaking down a stubborn Burton side.
He was glad to see it pay off too as Russell stepped off the substitutes bench to slam in the winning goal with eight minutes remaining.
“It was very much like the Ipswich game, but we knew that would be the case ahead of kick-off,” Thorne said.
“Teams are coming here and making it very difficult for us to play through them, but we knew we had 90 minutes to find the winner.
“Not getting inpatient was the main thing for us today and we have managed to get that winner late on.
“In these games you have to keep shifting the ball to create your chance and, thankfully, Johnny has got the winner.”
