Keeper enjoying life at Pride Park

Keeper enjoying life at Pride Park

The signing of Roy Carroll from Glasgow Rangers was a drawn out affair, put Paul Jewell was determined to sign the 30-year-old and the Irishman hasn`t looked back and is happy to be back playing football again.

He only made one appearance in the season at the Scottish Premier League side and is enjoying his time at Pride Park.

He has started in the Rams last two Premier League games and is delighted to be in competitive action once more.

‘I’m enjoying myself at the moment,’ Carroll told the official club web site.

‘The lads are working hard on the training ground and although we had a bad result on Saturday against Spurs, it is nice to be out there playing football.

‘It is a good bunch of lads here and they have made me feel very welcome.

‘I had been here a few times before I signed so I got to know the lads and now it’s good to be coming out and working with them.’

In his home debut for the Rams against Spurs, it was the first time he had ever played at Pride Park Stadium in a senior career spanning well over 300 appearances.

The highest league crowd of the season, 33,058, helped create an excellent atmosphere and that was reflected on the field as Derby competed well for long periods against the North London outfit.

Carroll has been impressed with his new surroundings especially the fans. ‘The Derby fans are fantastic,’ he said.

‘We have to go out there and do our best as that is what the fans want to see first from the players – giving 100 per cent every game.’

He added: ‘We were working very hard and had a few chances in the first half that we didn’t put away.

‘It’s a harsh lesson that if you don’t finish them off a side like Spurs will come back at you and that’s what they did in the last 25 minutes.

‘They scored three goals and I thought that was very harsh on us, though we were very disappointed.’