Derby County captain Conor Hourihane believes the whole squad deserve great credit for being able to secure promotion back to the Sky Bet Championship at just the second attempt.
Hourihane, who was voted club captain by his peers prior to the 2023/24 campaign getting under way, says everyone played their part and the way certain players were able to step up during injury or suspension problem was key to the side's eventual success.
Speaking to RamsTV following the conclusion of the campaign last Saturday, with Derby securing automatic promotion with a 2-0 home win over Carlisle United, the skipper reflected on the 'special' days following promotion whilst also looking back at the season as a whole.
On how the celebrations have been over the last few days...
Really, really good! It was a special night on Saturday. The instant feeling of complete joy with family and friends around you are things that we will remember for a very long time.
On whether his promotion experience with Derby feels different to his first a decade ago...
You probably cherish it a little bit more, the older you get. When you're a little bit younger and you're fortunate enough to get your first promotion, you enjoy it and it's amazing. But, you know you've got a lot of time left and think you may get more. Being 33 and being lucky enough to get another one, especially with a big football club and how it's been the last few years here, it adds even more joy to it all. To get it a little bit later in my career is something I really wanted to do and cherish.
On what it has been like being captain this season...
First and foremost, to get it from the lads in their vote was amazing. I've been fortunate enough to have been captain at some of my previous clubs, so it wasn't a new role to me. I've always seen myself as a leader but to get it from the lads was a great honour. One of the big things for me coming here was to try and get promoted, so being captain at the start of the year gave me extra motivation to achieve that and to manage this group over the year has been really, really easy. Credit to the lads, they've made my job really easy and it's been a pleasure.
On moments that he looks back on as 'big' from a personal perspective...
For me, speaking about the group rather than me as an individual, the biggest thing for me is that although we've had a lot of injuries, someone has always stepped up and filled into their shoes. I could go through so many players who have been big players that have had injuries, except Cash and Nels. It's a credit to all the lads, they have all played their part in big moments. Dwight Gayle came in for a few games and did really well but then got injured, but we needed him at that time. Liam Thompson came in at times and performed really, really well. There has been a battle at right-back all season with Kane, Ryan and Wardy, they've all had big moments over the course of the year. Sibs has gone to left-back from midfield and I could go on and on and on with things like that. The lads have stepped up, stepped in, done the job and moved on to the next game.
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On whether the club records that have been set this year have been spoken about...
Not really, to be honest with you. As players, it has been just full focus on promotion. We had the disappointment last year with not making the play-offs and to go on and achieve what we have this year, it probably makes me realise how much of a failure last year was. For a club like this to only finish seventh in League One is not good enough. To flip that on its head and get into the top two this year has been some turnaround in the last few years from the club and that's a credit to everyone.
