Former Derby County striker Martyn Waghorn has sensationally come out of retirement and is back at the Rams training with the first team.
Waghorn announced earlier this year that he would be retiring after leaving Northampton Town and was looking to move into a career in coaching.
Now in a shock change of mind, he is looking to help the Rams beat relegation from the Championship and is training with the club .
The 35-year-old is highly unlikely to be introduced into the squad as a player with no plans for the club to register him, DerbyshireLive understands that it’s more a move by John Eustace to help bolster the club’s morale as the fight for Championship survival continues.
Waghorn enjoyed a wonderful career that spanned nearly 25 years which included spells at Sunderland, Ipswich, Leicester and Rangers. But he made the most appearances of his career at Derby where he enjoyed two spells as a player.
He played a huge role as the club retained its Championship status under Wayne Rooney on the final day of the 2020/21 season when he scored a penalty in a 3-3 draw against Sheffield Wednesday.
He rejoined the club again ahead of the 2023/24 season which ended with him scoring seven goals as the club won promotion to the Championship which included a hat-trick in a 4-2 win at Peterborough.
Speaking recently about retirement, Waghorn said he would like to move into the dugout in the future, but says he is no hurry to make a decision.
“I’m quite fortunate. My wife’s doing a pupillage at the minute to become a barrister,” Waghorn told the Sunderland Echo.
“Currently, I’ve got some time to reflect and plan my next steps. I don’t need to rush into anything.
“I’m a bit of a stay-at-home dad at the minute, playing a bit of golf, a bit of tennis, a bit of padel. Taking a bit of time, I do eventually want to go into some coaching in some capacity. I’ve done a little bit of commentary for the Radio Derby, so I’ve really enjoyed that.
“I’m in a good position where I can have some time to plan what I want to do and not force anything or be rushed into any decisions. Just take some time to be with the family. To be honest, it’s been a long career. You travel here and there. I’ve played for a lot of clubs. It’s involved a lot of moving around, a lot of stress on the family.
“Just take that time to be there for them for a period of time and enjoy those little moments that go so quick when you’re playing. That you don’t really have time to spend with. Just really appreciate those little fine moments in life. No major rush to jump into anything, but just plugging away and planning some steps as we go along.”
Derby County hero Martyn Waghorn back at the Rams to help Championship survival bid
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