Nathan Ellington was reunited with his former manager Paul Jewell over the summer when he moved to Derby County on a season-long loan from Watford. Jewell will be hoping 'The Duke' can repeat the goalscoring feats Ellington came up with when he played under the Rams' boss at Wigan. He scored 24 times in his last season with Jewell but since leaving the JJB Stadium for West Bromwich Albion three years ago, by his own admission it has been tough going for the striker. Ellington has been hit by injuries and last season's move to Watford saw him on the edges of the first team. However, if Ellington can rediscover his goal-den touch Jewell will be delighted as he aims to rebuild a Derby side looking to bounce back after last season's relegation from the Premier League. Givemefootball's Ian Clarkson spoke with Ellington during the Rams' kit launch in Derby city centre.
Q:THIS IS A CHANCE TO TURN THINGS AROUND FOR YOU ISN'T IT NOW THAT YOU’RE PLAYING FOR PAUL JEWELL AGAIN?
A:I'm looking forward to playing for Derby and getting things back on track this season, It's been a difficult time but it's behind me now. I was struggling but I think it's because I wasn't playing week in, week out and if I can get that going again, the goals will start coming. It's good to be playing for Paul Jewell after being with him at Wigan because it all seems so familiar for me again.
Q:YOU KNOW ALL ABOUT PLAYING IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP, HOW TOUGH IS IT GOING TO BE THIS SEASON?
A:I think it's going to be hard. The standard last year was not as high as it used to be but, looking at it this time; it seems to have got stronger. Derby are going to be one of the favourites and we'd like to be up there in one of the top two spots. But we won't be the only ones, every team that was up there last season will be thinking the same thing, they'll want to move on and go one better. And every team that's come down will want to get back up again.
Q:IT'S NO SECRET THAT DERBY HAD A TOUGH TIME OF IT IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE LAST SEASON, HOW DID THAT LOOK FROM THE OUTSIDE?
A:Maybe the problem was that they didn't add enough players of top quality when they went up. I was at West Brom when we lost to Derby in the play-off final at Wembley and at the time we thought that if they didn't bring in a lot of players then they would probably come straight back down. But if we are promoted this season, we've got to add players with Premier League quality to stay up next time.
Q:DERBY HAVE SIGNED A LOT OF PLAYERS THIS SUMMER, ALMOST AN ENTIRELY NEW TEAM. AND YOU KNOW ONE OF THOSE NEW ARRIVALS - DANISH DEFENDER MARTIN ALBRECHTSEN - FROM YOUR TIME AT WEST BROM DON'T YOU?
A:Martin is one of the fittest players I've seen. It's not like he's even in the gym that much – he's just so chiselled! But he's very mobile and very fast. He'll get forward from the full back positions and is also very comfortable in the centre of defence. But after being at Albion, he knows what it's like to challenge for the top in the Championship. There will come a crucial time of the season when you need players who've been there and done it before so Martin will be very important to Derby and a real bonus.
Q:COULD IT BE THAT THERE ARE SO MANY NEW PLAYERS THAT IT WILL TAKE TIME TO GEL THIS SEASON?
A:I know what you mean but we've all been making a real effort to get to know each other. That has to happen quickly, on and off the pitch because we want to make a good start. It was a bit strange to begin with because of all the new faces, but it's been good so far and a lot of the players I'd met before at some point or knew of anyway.
Q:YOU ACTUALLY COULD QUALIFY TO PLAY FOR BOSNIA AT INTERNATIONAL LEVEL AS YOUR WIFE COMES FROM THERE. WILL YOU PURSUE THAT OPTION THIS SEASON?
A:I'm hearing different things about what's going on with the team so I'll be leaving that alone for a while I think. I was checking to see if I was eligible, but I'm not sure yet. I'm probably eligible for England, Jamaica and Bosnia, but none of them seem interested right now! I'm keeping my options open, maybe a few goals this season will do the trick.
