Over recent years The Rams academy has been recognised as one of the best in the country, shaping our future stars who display obvious talent. That status was further confirmed on Sunday night as Will Hughes and Mason Bennett won awards at ‘The Football League Awards’.

At 18 years of age Will Hughes has been mentioned as a potential target for the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United & even Barcelona. Those big spending juggernauts will definitely continue to keep an eye on the Rams youngster, after his profile was raised even further by beating out Leicester City’s Liam Moore and Swindon Town’s Alex Pritchard, to win ‘Young Player Of The Year’.

If previous pedigree is any indication of an award being a good judge of what the future holds for a recipient, you only need to look as far as previous winners Gareth Bale and Wilfried Zaha.

Will Hughes was unable to attend the gala awards night but did tweet about his excitement on receiving the news:

"Shame I couldn't be there tonight but delighted to have won young player of the year! Big thanks to everyone."

Sam Rush was on hand to accept the award on Hughes' behalf and spoke glowingly about DCFC’s prize asset:

“There is a huge amount of competition in the Football League and a third of all players are eligible for this award so for him to come out on top at 18 is an amazing achievement for him.”

“He is a very grounded young man, considering the achievements he has had and the amount of exposure he has had. He is intelligent as well and I think that is why he has made such quick progress.”

Hughes was not the only player recognised from the Rams ranks as young striker Mason Bennett, who has just joined League One side Chesterfield on loan, had the honour of being named “Championship Apprentice of the Year”.

Rams Head Coach Steve McClaren only spoke last week to the media about Bennett’s potential and that he sees him as an integral part of The Rams squad next season. At only 17 years of age, this award backs up McClaren’s comments as Mason was chosen over his new Chesterfield team mate Jake Charles and Middlesbrough’s Bryn Morris.

Bennett accepted the award personally and was suitably chuffed with the recognition:

“It’s a great achievement for me personally and for my family. I’d like to thank the academy and the manager for giving me the opportunity. It’s been very hard because I haven’t had much time to concentrate on my LFE work but there’s a great education officer at Derby who has helped me get through it.”

DCFC also won the award for “Best Digital Content & Audience Growth”, beating Bournemouth, Coventry City, Oxford United and Queens Park Rangers.

The only award Derby did not collect, of the four categories they were nominated in, was “Community Club of the Year” which was won by Brentford.

If nothing else the awards solidified what Rams fans already new, that Hughes and Bennett are genuine talents, who are likely to go on and have long and successful careers in the game at a high level.

It is a credit to Darren Wassall and the Rams academy, who have continually produced prospects for the first team and that represent their International squads at youth level regularly.

Names such as Hughes, Bennett, Hendrick, O’Brien & Ball, show the good work being done at youth level which will no doubt serve Derby County well on and off the pitch for years to come.

Another name that more than deserves a mention is Nigel Clough as he was instrumental in setting up the current structure of the DCFC Academy and very involved in how it was to be run and the player’s development within it.

It reflects well not just on the players but on the club as it looks to attract the best and brightest. Nigel gave both Hughes and Bennett their big break into the first team and will always be a very important person in their history as professional footballers.

Well done to all involved at DCFC and in particular Bennett and Hughes, I am sure RamZone speaks for every Derby fan when we say — Congratulations!

Photo: Action Images

Derby County Polls