Frank Lampard's reaction about Martyn Waghorn reinforce John Eustace's Derby County idea

Derby County boss John Eustace has summoned back former attacker Martyn Waghorn to help the club’s survival push.

News broke on Saturday evening that Derby County had decided to summon former attacker Martyn Waghorn back to the club in order to aid their push towards Championship survival in the remaining weeks of the season.

Waghorn, who spent three years at Pride Park between 2018 and 2021 before returning last season to help Paul Warne’s side secure promotion back to the second tier from League One, made 150 appearances for the Rams during his playing days and contributed 50 goals and assists across those run-outs.

The forward announced earlier this year that he would be hanging up his boots after leaving League One side Northampton Town and that the prospect of moving into coaching was something that interested him.

Waghorn, who also had spells with Rangers, Leicester City, Ipswich Town, Wigan Athletic and Coventry City throughout his extensive playing career, has been brought back to Derby for the remaining weeks of the season in a non-playing capacity.

Boss John Eustace, appointed after the closure of the January transfer window, has since recruited free agents Kemar Roofe and Erik Pieters to help boost the squad during the run-in, but Waghorn’s responsibility will be a little different, focusing instead on bolstering squad morale before a string of key fixtures.

Waghorn’s profile makes sense, in that case, certainly when you consider what his former Derby boss Frank Lampard said about him during their time working together at Pride Park.

Waghorn and Lampard were at the club for the 2018-19 season, during which time they reached the Championship play-off final before losing to Aston Villa in the showpiece at Wembley.

Working alongside lots of young Premier League talent that year, including Mason Mount, Fikayo Tomori and Harry Wilson, Waghorn was identified by Lampard as an important character away from the football pitch itself.

“When he first came here I maybe asked for different things from what he was being asked at Ipswich last year, he’s very aware of that now and he gives everything,” Lampard said of Waghorn, after a win over Hull City in which he netted a brace. “It was an all-round performance of work rate, quality, hold-up play and two great goals.

“His career has taken him to a lot of places, I know first hand the lad that he is now, he’s fantastic for me in the dressing room in what he gives off to the rest of the squad but more than that his quality on the pitch.”

Waghorn netted 13 goals that year, complementing the tallies of Wilson, Mount and Jack Marriott, but clearly his presence and influence in the dressing room was key to Lampard who was working with an otherwise youthful squad – Eustace will be hoping for a similar impact in these remaining weeks of the season.

Speaking recently about retirement, Waghorn said he would like to move into the dugout in the future, but says he is no hurry to make a decision.

“I’m quite fortunate. My wife’s doing a pupillage at the minute to become a barrister,” Waghorn told the Sunderland Echo. “Currently, I’ve got some time to reflect and plan my next steps. I don’t need to rush into anything.

“I’m a bit of a stay-at-home dad at the minute, playing a bit of golf, a bit of tennis, a bit of padel. Taking a bit of time, I do eventually want to go into some coaching in some capacity. I’ve done a little bit of commentary for the Radio Derby, so I’ve really enjoyed that.

“I’m in a good position where I can have some time to plan what I want to do and not force anything or be rushed into any decisions. Just take some time to be with the family. To be honest, it’s been a long career. You travel here and there. I’ve played for a lot of clubs. It’s involved a lot of moving around, a lot of stress on the family.

“Just take that time to be there for them for a period of time and enjoy those little moments that go so quick when you’re playing. That you don’t really have time to spend with. Just really appreciate those little fine moments in life. No major rush to jump into anything, but just plugging away and planning some steps as we go along.”

Derby County boss John Eustace has summoned back former attacker Martyn Waghorn to help the club’s survival push.

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