Conor Hourihane: Ex-Derby captain on moving into a player-coach role after Rams exit

Hourihane has previously spoken about how he is “no longer scared” of retiring as a player after moving into coaching in recent years.

“I’m delighted with what I’ve done in my playing career and hopefully I can get a little bit of success in the next chapter as well,” he said.

Following Derby’s promotion back to the Championship, a division the club plummeted from while in administration in 2022, Hourihane was the highest-profile player released by the club.

Less than two years earlier, he had been among the most notable recruits for a club rebuilding after near financial ruin.

He told BBC Sport that he wanted a “fairytale” ending at the Rams when talking about promotion late last season, and while he will not join Derby back in the Championship he insists he achieved what he set out to do.

“I wanted to be part of something, to rebuild the club and help it get into the Championship again,” he said.

“I manged to achieve my goal.

“You look at teams like Sunderland or Portsmouth and how many years they were down in League One, and I didn’t want to leave the club and leave them in League One.

“I’m getting that little bit older, I probably wasn’t going to play that much heading into the Championship, and I’m absolutely delighted to leave the club in a place where it is much stronger from where it was when I started.”