Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Ex-Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie has no regrets over Derby move

Derby County's Graeme Shinnie. Photo: Tim Goode/PA Wire.
Derby County's Graeme Shinnie. Photo: Tim Goode/PA Wire.

Former Aberdeen and Caley Thistle captain Graeme Shinnie says he has no regrets over his move to Derby County.

The 28-year-old has started only 10 of Derby’s 37 matches in the Championship ahead of play resuming on June 20.

He said: “It was a fresh start as I had played in Scotland for 10 years against the same teams at the same stadiums. I wanted to experience different football.

“I signed for Frank Lampard then he immediately left, which was not ideal. I was out of favour with the new manager until I eventually got an opportunity and turned it around.

“I was playing again, then got injured at a really bad time. I was out for 10 weeks.

“I was in and out the team after that but in our last game at Blackburn we won 3-0 and I played well. I felt that was me back to my best, then everything came to a halt because of coronavirus.”

Shinnie admits it is a surreal experience to play alongside Wayne Rooney at Derby County.

The former Don has been enormously impressed by the levels of professionalism shown by the Manchester United and England record goalscorer.

Shinnie said: “He’s unbelievable. It’s mental.

“His game management, passing and shooting are top class.

“He has the ability to control games without using too much energy. And he has a wee Aberdonian kid running around next time who will hopefully keep him happy by doing all his hard work.

“It’s been unbelievable to work with a player like that. The young players especially will gain massively from having him there.

“I’m 28 but still learning a lot from him and where he’s been. And listening to his stories is good as well – he talks about Champions League and I talk about Scottish Cup.

“In terms of the standard down here, it is very good. I can say that after playing next to Rooney. But on the flip side of that, I feel there’s many players in Scottish football who could perform down here.”

Shinnie is back training with Derby with the Championship season set to resume this month.

He added: “It’s been a lot different. On the first day we were tested straight away and were limited to two players per pitch with one coach.

“It was little passing drills and mostly running. We weren’t allowed in the building so you were coming up in your car, staying there until you were told, going to the doc’s office and getting the swab done. Then waiting in your car again until the coach came and got you.

“We started full contact training on Thursday, which is a lot better. We’ve been doing a lot of 11v11 games because it’s such a short turnaround after 10 weeks off.

“My natural fitness has always been there, but match sharpness is so much different. I have picked up a couple of bookings already in training.

“We are only five points off the play-off places and promotion to the Premier League is massive. It’s going to be intense and demanding. It’s important we hit the ground running.”