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Chris Martin made his first appearance for Derby County in over a year against Cardiff City last week.

The 30-year-old came off the bench for the final few minutes of the 1-1 draw with the Bluebirds and received a standing ovation from the Pride Park faithful.

It was the striker's first appearance for the Rams in over 18 months, when he came of the bench in a 3-0 win over Birmingham City in January 2018.

After being frozen out of the team under Gary Rowett and Frank Lampard, Martin spent time on loan at Reading and Hull City, but really struggled to make an impact.

Derby manager Phillip Cocu admitted at his pre-match press conference ahead of the clash with Leeds United this weekend that he's been impressed by what he's seen from Martin in training.

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Cocu praised the striker for his attitude and work ethic, and said that it's up to him to make his team selection as difficult as possible.

Martin has got to use these comments as motivation to kick-start his season and get his Derby career back on track.

Cocu is clearly prepared to give him a chance in the team and he's just got to keep working hard on the training pitch and know that sooner or later, he will get another opportunity.

After all, he's a very good striker and he's got plenty of experience in the Championship, so he could still be a very useful player for the Rams this season.

He offers something different to the other strikers that Derby have like Jack Marriot and Martyn Waghorn. He's more of physical option up top. He's very good in the air and his hold-up play is excellent.

Derby have struggled to score goals so far this season, but Martin has shown that he's got what it takes to score goals at this level and if he can continue to work hard and impress his manager in training, he could be able to force his way back into the team.

Cocu's recent comments show that the Derby boss is prepared to give Martin a chance and it's up to the striker now to use his words as fuel to get his season back on track.

Derby's start to the new season under Cocu has been far from ideal and if they don't start to pick up a few wins soon, it's going to be difficult for them to challenge for promotion.

It'll be interesting to see whether Cocu is prepared to give Martin a chance in the big game against Leeds this weekend, or whether he'll have to settle for a place on the bench again.