Derby County have scored some incredible goals this season but without a solid foundation, it’s tough for teams to succeed.
And the defensive solidity of the Rams has been recognised at the Championship club’s end-of-season awards, with Fikayo Tomori named Derby’s Player of the Year and Richard Keogh voted Derby’s Players’ Player of the Year.
Keogh has made over 300 appearances for Derby in total and he will hope that he plays his first Premier League game for the Rams next season as Frank Lampard’s side are currently fighting for a place in the upcoming play-offs.
The Republic of Ireland centre-half has become a fan favourite for both club and country for his no-nonsense style of defending and he spoke with pride on Tuesday night after being recognised for his reliability throughout the campaign.
“To be with these guys every day and train and play with them, for them to vote for me is a nice feeling and a great honour,” Keogh said.
"It's a great honour." 🏆@RichardKeogh_6 spoke to RamsTV after his teammates voted him as #DCFC's Players' Player of the Season… 👌 pic.twitter.com/rhPgdblM3y
— Derby County (@dcfcofficial) April 24, 2019
“There have been some great performances from a lot of the lads this year, so it’s just an amazing honour.
“To win any award is a nice feeling, so I’m just proud really.”
Keogh will come up against former side Bristol City on Saturday afternoon, when three points will be required to keep themselves in the running for a play-off spot.
“I’ve had some great memories there, got promotion there, met some great people there and my wife’s from there as well so a bit of her family will obviously be supporting Bristol,” Keogh continued.
“We know what the game is about. We know that it’s crunch time of the season. They’ll obviously be trying to win the game and so will we.
“We’ll go down there confident because we’ve been on a really good run. We just have to rest up because obviously, we’ve had a quick turnaround of games. Hopefully we’ll get a few lads back from injury which will be good for the squad.
“We’ll travel down there with great backing from the fans, as always, and we’ll give it everything to try to get over the line.”
