Derby County’s two marquee loan signings Mason Mount and Harry Wilson were both their club debuts as Frank Lampard’s Rams team began the Sky Bet Championship season with a 2-1 win away to Reading.
A lot of attention was on 19-year-old Mount, especially, with plenty of hype surrounding him upon his arrival from Chelsea after a wonderful loan season on loan in the Eredivisie with Vitesse Arnhem.
In this game, he adopted a deeper role than he became accustomed to with Vitesse.
He routinely was the player who received the ball from the centre-backs where he tried, with varying degrees of success, to advance play.
One felt at times Mount received the ball too deep – in such areas where he was unable to make full use of his quality in the final third.
Not to be denied, though, the Englishman proved how dangerous he can be in and around the penalty box with his equalising effort that caught Reading goalkeeper Vito Mannone off guard from 25 yards.
However, it was far from a vintage Mason Mount performance.
Much more will continue to be expected from him as the season progresses.
Fellow debutant Wilson, the 21-year-old on loan from Liverpool, worked tirelessly. He always does.
He was limited, however, by the sheer lack of volume of attacks focussed down Derby’s right-hand side.
The Rams seem to prefer targeting the left flank, where Mount, Tom Lawrence and Max Lowe present a more dangerous threat than the likes of Andre Wisdom on the opposite side.
Nevertheless, Wilson will continue to play an important role spacing the attack and pressing – the goals will come for him.