“Not my chosen position” – Nathaniel Mendez-Laing offers honest verdict on new Derby County role | OneFootball

Derby County are performing solidly enough in League One and with Paul Warne at the helm, they now have a man in charge that knows what it takes to get a team out of the division.

However, with the transfer window close, the former Rotherham United boss has had to be flexible as he adapts to his new squad and tries to fit them into his preferred system.

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing is one of the players that has had to adapt as despite being a natural winger or forward, he has been forced into a wing-back role under Warne but speaking to the club’s official website, he admitted he was able to “show a lot more of what he can do” and was relishing even being on the field.

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He said: “I am enjoying it. I’ve got experience of playing there before. I’ve spoken to the manager and he knows it’s not my chosen position. But you get asked to do a job on the pitch and you do it. I can get the ball a lot more and I am getting fitter because I need to be up and down.

“The gaffer wants a lot of crosses in the box for the strikers. I am seeing quite a lot of the ball so I think I am showing a lot more of what I can do.”

Mendez-Laing joined the Rams in the summer window, as well as a plethora of other names thanks to the club having new owners at the helm. Having left Sheffield Wednesday, he was available on a free and the club were only too quick to snap him up.

He proved that he could do the business in League One last year and is continuing to show as much at Pride Park. He has two goals and two assists so far in just 11 third-tier outings and that’s in spite of the fact he has now been pushed out to his wing-back role. Even there though the 30-year-old is thriving, impressing and bagging an assist in their 3-0 win over Accrington Stanley.

The Verdict

Mendez-Laing has proven that he can still offer plenty in the EFL, even after having fallen down the pyramid in terms of who he is playing for.

He has hundreds of games worth of experience in the Championship but is now plying his trade in League One on a regular basis. Still, the 30-year-old has not been fazed and is continuing to produce the goods regularly. It suggests that the player should even be playing at a higher level than he is.

He’ll be hoping that opportunity comes with Derby and with the way he is playing, it certainly could. Even though he is being asked to fill a role that perhaps he is not natural in, he has so far been able to meet the demands that Warne is asking of him and his standard and quality hasn’t dropped.

Derby then can be glad they have a player like Mendez-Laing to call on and if he keeps this form up, he could be one of their most important players this season.