Derby County have had a difficult start to their season but that hasn't stopped new signing Sam Baldock from aiming high with his new side.

They dropped a 1-0 lead in their opening game against Huddersfield to draw 1-1 and did the same a week later away at Peterborough to lose 2-1.

But Baldock remains confident in his new teammates as he scored his first goal since the 19/20 season, he told RamsTV: "It is good to get a goal off my back early doors, it’s been a while since I’ve put the ball in the net, so it meant a lot to me."

“It was a good powerful run from Lee Buchanan for me to follow up on. I think Ravel Morrison tried to take the ball off him, but Lee said ‘no’ and hit it well.

“You just have to follow those in to get one of those cheap ones; fortunately, it came my way.”

Derby's new number nine has been training with the club since the start of the summer, finally being allowed to join up officially with his new teammates following Colin Kazim-Richards' injury last week, and he wants his new teammates to aim high: "We have to be ambitious. We have a very strong squad and have some experienced players as well as some talented youngsters, so we hope to utilise everyone in a positive way and get some more positive results.”

The Verdict

Scoring on your debut is the best way to endear yourself to your new supporters and Baldock certainly enjoyed it as his goal delivered Derby's first win of the season.

The signing of Sam Baldock may have raised eyebrows to some, but he's an experienced Championship player with a goalscoring pedigree which is something Derby lack.

He's played for a number of Championship sides and experienced promotions with West Ham and Brighton and his experience and energy will be hugely important to a side lacking packed full of young players.