Young midfielders Max Bird and Louie Sibley have signed four-year contract extensions with Derby and immediately set their sights on the Premier League.
Sibley, 19, broke into the Rams’ first team last season, making 11 Championship appearances and six more in cup competitions and scoring five goals including a hat-trick against Millwall.
Bird, for whom the contract comes a day before his 20th birthday, made four league appearances in 2018-19 and began to hold down a regular place last season, recently deputising as captain in the absence of Wayne Rooney.
He told Rams TV: “For myself, (the aim is) just to kick on again, have a full season in the first team, and take the team and the club where it should be – and that’s at the top end of the table.
“Whether it’s play-offs or whether it’s automatic promotion, that needs to be in our sights. We need to get promoted this season.”
Sibley added: “I always knew there was the pathway at Derby. Birdy’s been a bit longer in the first team but I’ve had the chance last season and took it.
“I want to be a key player, playing every week. For both of us, we want to keep proving what we can do.
“Like Birdy said, we’ve got a good group of lads so hopefully this season we can push for the play-offs. Last season was a bit unfortunate but hopefully this season we can go for it.”
