With the Blues assured of a top 10 finish, Darius has been reflecting on a year that has seen him flourish under the watchful eye of Sven-Goran Eriksson, the man who handed him all of his 22 England caps.
Looking back, Darius thinks everyone connected to City should be pleased with the season, and he says:
“I didn’t know what to expect when we came back for pre-season, to be quite honest. There were a lot of new faces, new languages around the place, and I was injured so I did not know what might happen. I’m pleased with the way it turned around for me and I’m looking forward to starting off more strongly next season.
“If you look at the season as a whole compared to last season we should all be happy. We’ve improved and done better than was probably expected, so that has to be a positive.
“We spoke before the season and the priority was to try to get into Europe. It was a long shot, but if we went at it with that kind of mentality we never knew what might happen. With the way it is now we should be pleased, and it is definitely something we can build on.”
Darius’ selfless displays in a variety of positions, coupled with some important goals, saw him win the Thomas Cook Player of the Month award for April. Despite the Blues missing out on an automatic place in Europe, he’s pleased with the way the Blues dug in and he adds,
“All teams in the Premier League know that they are going to have ups and downs, and we started out in August playing some good football. We didn’t do so well in the second half of the season, but we’ve still ground some good results out when we needed to and that’s the sign of a good team.”
