‘Start The New Year In The Right Way!’

They have had to wait for it, but Derby County’s Under-23s return to action on Sunday and Charles Vernam’s focus is on making sure he and the side bounce back to winning ways and start the New Year in the right way.

The Rams travel to face Sunderland at Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground on Sunday for their first Premier League 2 - Division 1 fixture in more than three weeks, kick-off: 12pm.

The Rams ended 2017 with a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in the Premier League International Cup.

The defeat slightly soured what had been a terrific 12 months for Darren Wassall’s squad and Vernam revealed to RamsTV that there is a determination within the group to prove that the result was a one-off.

“We were all really disappointed with the way we ended 2017, especially after the run of positive results that we had before the Zagreb game,” he said.

“The way we lost was very disappointing and coming into this first game of the New Year we want to put it right.

“There’s no better opportunity for us than to go to Sunderland and put in a strong performance.

“There’s a lot of importance on it – not just because it’s the first game of the New Year – but more so because of how we ended last year.

“We want to make sure we start 2018 in the right way and that starts with the Sunderland game.

“We aren’t getting ahead of ourselves and we’re only going to go there, give everything we can and hopefully that will be enough for three points.”

As it stands, Derby’s Under-23s sit smack bang in the middle of the pile in Premier League 2 - Division 1.

They also hold a six-point gap over Sunderland, who occupy the final relegation place heading into the first game of the New Year.

Vernam would love to extend that gap on Sunday…

“Anyone we come up against in this division is going to give us a difficult game and can’t be taken for granted,” he said.

“We have to make sure we are ready for anything to be thrown at us and over this Christmas period, that’s what we have been working on.

“We want to go there and get the three points which will make that gap between us and the bottom two a bit bigger.”