Young Derby County goalkeeper Jack Thompson says he wants to make the most of a 'valuable learning experience' after joining the first team squad for their pre-season preparations ahead of the 2024/25 Sky Bet Championship season.
The 17-year-old, who signed his first professional contract last season and stepped up to Jake Buxton’s Under-21s squad, was part of Paul Warne’s matchday squad in the first friendly of the pre-season against Matlock Town last Friday and has been under the watchful eye of Goalkeeping Coach Andy Warrington and senior shot-stopper Josh Vickers during the week-long training camp in Alicante.
Thompson spoke to RamsTV to discuss his goals for pre-season and getting settled with the squad.
On taking part in his first senior pre-season training camp…
I'm really enjoying it. It's my first experience but, so far, it has been a great one. I feel like, in such a short time, I'm picking up a lot of things from Vic (Josh Vickers) and all the first-team lads. They're really supportive of me and helping me learn every day and in every training session.
On being around the first team squad…
Looking at the end of last season and going into this year while I was off, I was definitely looking at trying to push on to have a pre-season with the first team and getting in around it, because I knew that would benefit me massively. To be here, I'm really proud and, hopefully, I can continue to stay around it the rest of the pre-season. I was quite nervous to start with, especially at Matlock the other night. I think I've begun to realise now that the closer I am to them, they're just normal people like me. They're not these big, bad people!
On getting to know the squad and the new signings…
They're just really nice. Like I said previously, they've looked after me a lot while I've been here. I think they could tell I was a little bit nervous, but they've welcomed me in and it's just like talking to my mates now, which is fantastic. The group's so much tighter than I expected and I look at it as a bit of an outsider, as a young lad, but you wouldn't know that some of the new lads are new. It looks like they've been here for years and it's nice to see everybody so tight.
On training in the Spanish heat…
The heat, especially on Monday for the first day, was really, really tough. Personally, for me, the challenges are stepping up. The pace is quicker, so it is about trying to adjust to it and there's not a lot of room for error, especially in the small-sided games when playing out to give the ball away. It's probably going to end up in the goal, so I think that's helping me to adjust.
On Ebou Adams linking up with the squad again…
Everybody was buzzing to see him when he arrived. It's really nice to have him back, especially after last year. What he did in such a short time was amazing. His impact was huge. He's loved by the fans and he's loved by the lads as well.
