Ince’s double at Huddersfield on Saturday, in Derby County’s 4-4 draw which he described as similar to ‘a game on FIFA’, helped him reach his 10th goal in 16 appearances for The Rams and to also increase his side’s chances of securing a Championship play-off place come the end of the season.
The son of former England captain Paul has been well within the limelight since joining McClaren at Derby by stating he would rather focus on club football than to join Gareth Southgate’s England Under-21 set up.
Since receiving the Young Player of the Year award in 2013, Ince’s club career has seemingly gone off the rails. He left Blackpool having registered over 130 appearances and scoring 33 goals to sign on loan for Crystal Palace, only to feature eight times for the London cub and scoring just the once in a 3-1 win over West Bromwich Albion.
The Stockport born winger then rejected the chance to join Italian giants Inter Milan before signing for Premier League side Hull City in 2014. Ince was then loaned out to Stuart Pearce’s Nottingham Forest side before returning to Hull in December, only to then be loaned out again, this time to promotion hopefuls Derby County.
He scored twice on his Derby debut in a 4-1 victory against Bolton Wanderers and since then has gone onto feature for the East Midland’s side in every league fixture during his loan spell, which lasts until the end of the season.
Tom, now aged 23, is looking to be Steve McClaren’s latest acquisition for The Rams whether it’s for another promotion push in the Championship or a survival campaign in the Barclays Premier League season, but for now, all he will want is for Tom to continue this rich vein of form which earned him so many plaudits as a youngster, as they look to secure a play-off position.