‘Unfinished business’ for Hendrick and Derby

Jeff Hendrick says Derby County will not take the hangover of their excruciating play-off defeat into the new Championship season, with the Ireland midfielder insisting their concession of a last-minute goal at Wembley in May will be used to spur them on to promotion.

Steve McClaren’s team are among the favourites in the ultra-competitive second tier once again and with history in their favour — five of the past 10 play-off final losers have gone on to win promotion the following season — Hendrick is quietly confident they can continue the trend and reach the Premier League for the first time since the ill-fated 2007/08 campaign.

“It’s unfinished business now really,” Hendrick says. “Obviously there was disappointment but we’ve relaxed, had time to get over it and we are ready to get back into the swing of things, hit the ground running and start the season well.

“Every year, there are eight to 10 teams in contention. It’s a crazy league. Look down the fixtures and you can’t predict what’s going to happen. The bottom team beat the third team and it’s no surprise. It will be a different challenge but we have a good chance.”

Derby were last season’s top scorers with 84, the free-flowing football under McClaren a stark change to the style employed by Nigel Clough.

Although Hendrick spent most of the first half of the season on the sidelines because of an ankle injury, he formed a key part of the league’s most exciting midfield along with Will Hughes and Craig Bryson during the run-in.

And working under McClaren has also seen his game improve: “I progressed a good bit last year, especially when I got a run of games, but we play a different style of football now and everyone seems to enjoy how we play.

“I think we’ve all improved, it’s really hands-on in training. You can see that from not only the results but the way we were playing last season.

“We’ve got a young squad but we all get on, both on and off the pitch. We all work hard, of course, but we enjoy ourselves too. And among the younger lads, the older players help.”

Such an impressive attack led to teams setting up with 10 men behind the ball in an attempt to stifle the Derby attack but Hendrick says they relish that challenge.

“A lot of teams, when they came to play us, the way they set up was a compliment to us. The possession we had, the chances we created and the goals we scored were great, hopefully we can bring that into this year as well. Sometimes when we played away, teams had so much respect for us that they sat back.”

And while another slew of good performances should strengthen his case when it comes to the Ireland set-up, Hendrick is keen to downplay his chances of featuring when the Euro 2016 qualifiers kick-off next month — despite impressing in the friendly against Italy in June.

“I don’t want to get ahead of myself and, my only concern is I want to start the league well with Derby. Where Ireland are concerned, I’m happy with being in the squad. To be included again would be great.”