MATT Derbyshire has pleaded with Blackburn Rovers boss Paul Ince to give him a chance to shine this season.
The 22-year-old made just five Premier League starts last term, competing against Roque Santa Cruz, Benni McCarthy and Jason Roberts for a starting berth.
But he was hampered along the way by injuries, and underwent a double hernia operation at the end of the season to cure the problem.
However, Derbyshire is feeling the benefits of a relaxing summer break, and has so far impressed during Rovers’ pre-season programme.
He scored in last weekend’s 4-2 friendly defeat against Wolves and, in a lively display at Molineux, could easily have bagged a hat-trick.
Ince has told Derbyshire that he will play a key role for Rovers during their Premier League camp-aign, which starts next Saturday at Everton.
And that will be music to the ears of the England U21 international, provided he gets his wish of playing in his natural position.
“I’d like to think I’ll take another step up this season,” said Derbyshire.
“For myself, it’s important that I play football, because as part of my learning curve, I need to be playing. If I don’t play, I’m not learning.
“Obviously, I would love to be played in my position, which is centre-forward.
“I really hope the manager sees it that way, and not as a winger, because a lot of my movement is in and around the box and I’d like to think I’m a decent finisher as well.
“If I’ve got a job to do on the wing, I’ll try my best and I’ll do as much work as I can for the team and manager.
“But I see myself as a forward and I’d love to be in and around the front two.”
With Santa Cruz, Roberts and McCarthy also available to Ince, Derbyshire accepts that competition is fierce.
But the former Great Harwood Town man believes he has enough quality to lead the line for Rovers on a regular basis.
He added: “There’s nothing like a bit of competition - you can’t beat it.
“I’ve got brilliant strikers ahead of me, but it’s all good to work and learn off these people and get better, so there’s no reason why I can’t push on.
“I've just got to keep learning and keep my head up.”
After a summer of huge chance, new boss Ince and his backroom team are aiming to improve on the good work laid down by former manager Mark Hughes.
And despite considerable upheavel over the past month, which has seen the departures of David Bentley and Brad Friedel, Derbyshire insists Blackburn can achieve a European spot this season.
“It was disppointing to lose Brad and David becasue they are good lads, but there’s good lads coming into the club as well,” said the Rovers striker.
“People move on - these things happen in football. But at the end of the day, you've got to get on with your own job and keep yourself right.
“If you do that, you don’t have to worry about these players because Blackburn is a big club and we want to push on.
“There’s no reason why we can’t get back into Europe this season. We’ve still got a good group of footballers here.”
