New signing Bradley Johnson has been at DCFC for little over a month now and, of the summer signings, he has to be the biggest surprise, and not just for his re-christening of the club as ‘Derby City’!

On Saturday against Brentford he put in an excellent man of the match performance, he never stopped running, proved to be very strong against opposing players and has an eye for a pass, not forgetting an eye for goal as we found out in the match at MK Dons.

Johnson has a certain combative and intense, forward thinking nature about him in the midfield. That type of attacking play was lacking for large parts of last season as Craig Bryson and Jeff Hendrick, when not battling injury, struggled to recreate previously seen form.

Jeff Hendrick also had a good outing against Brentford, the best match he’s had in a Derby shirt for a while. The competition in the engine room is hotting up and Jacob Butterfield will have difficulty getting back into the side if Jeff helps to keep things roaring.

Both Johnson and Hendrick ran the midfield for most of the match, along with George Thorne who had only just returned from injury. With Thorne in the position that he rightfully owns (when fit!), the Rams have a lot more about them, he tackles firmly and distributes the ball out of his own half in a way that Chris Baird has not when in that same role.

Thorne, Johnson and Shackell were the three players substituted on Saturday and without them, Derby certainly looked much more vulnerable.

As the season progresses it isn’t difficult to see what a huge asset our biggest summer signing Bradley Johnson will become.

For more of Nathan's articles you can read his blog at www.derbycountyfan.com and follow him via @ramscorner on Twitter.

Photo: Action Images

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