"I love everything about the club": Derby County star hits 100 Rams appearances

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing has been one of Derby County’s best players over the past two seasons.

The Guatemalan international joined the Rams whilst Liam Rosenior was interim manager in the summer of 2022 just after relegation from the Championship.

The winger has always had talent, but has struggled to find comfortable form at a club due to his attitude.

However, Paul Warne seems to have worked his magic with Mendez-Laing as he now has 18 goals and 28 assists in 100 appearances for Derby.

After his 100th game on Saturday, the winger told Rams TV: “To play this many games in two seasons is a great achievement for me. It is something I am proud of and hopefully there’s many more to come.

“I feel very settled, thanks to everyone at the club, and there’s a real togetherness here. It makes me comfortable. I couldn’t ask for anything more and I love everything about the club. It helps with your performances when you’re in such a good place.”

It was somewhat fitting that Mendez-Laing scored on his 100th appearance in a 1-0 win that has put Derby on the brink of promotion.

He added: “As a team, I think we deserved the win. The fans were great, too, and it was amazing to score in front of them.”

Mendez-Laing has nine goals and 15 assists this season for Derby which is the most goal involvements in League One. He has also broken the club record for the most assists by a single player in one season.

He has been one of the biggest reasons why the Rams have had such a good season and getting them over the line at the weekend would end a career year for the 32 year-old.

“It [promotion] would mean so much to us.” He said, “This was the goal at the start of the season, and we are 90 minutes away from that now.

“We are back in on Monday, and we have to be fully focussed on Carlisle, as we have a job to do. We’ve got one more to go.”