This article is part of The Athletic’s EFL ‘Ones to Watch’ series for the 2023-24 season, profiling 10 of the most exciting players in the Championship, League One and League Two.
We started yesterday with Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney and the latest instalment focuses on Derby County defender Eiran Cashin. Before the season opener of Sheffield Wednesday against Southampton on August 4, we will continue to feature players from all divisions of the EFL.
Shorts pulled up high, socks to the knee and black boots is the old-school look for a central defender, but there is much more to 21-year-old Cashin’s game than appearances might suggest.
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In a crop of young academy players to have come through the ranks at Derby County in recent seasons, Louie Sibley, Max Bird and Jason Knight among them, Cashin could yet prove to be the pick of the bunch as the club chases promotion from League One this season.
The Republic of Ireland youth international fits one of football’s most sought-after profiles as a left-footed centre-back and has shown his worth in 70 appearances since making his debut in December 2021, becoming a crucial part of Paul Warne’s team.
In 43 appearances in the league last season, Cashin mostly started on the left of a centre-back pairing in a back four but has played at the centre of a back three, where he put in some solid defensive displays alongside the experience of Curtis Davies and Craig Forsyth. Davies has departed for Cheltenham Town but another Curtis — Nelson — has arrived and will form an impressive-looking pairing at Pride Park this season.
Cashin has now proven himself under three Derby managers with varying styles of football: the high pressing of Wayne Rooney, a possession-based style under Liam Rosenior and now Warne’s more direct approach. He does the basics of the centre-back role well and is strong in the air and in one-on-one situations, with his real value coming in his ability to progress play using his left foot.
The still below — taken from the 1-0 defeat to Ipswich Town in October — shows one example of Cashin’s ability to read a man running at him and put in a well-timed tackle. With Wes Burns on the ball breaking down the right and Derby outnumbered, Cashin stepped up and made a vital tackle to stop the counter-attack.


The decision carried considerable risk given Ipswich’s overload and Cashin has been exposed when diving in to a challenge — but more often than not he has proven his strengths as a capable one-on-one defender in last-ditch situations.
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The barcode chart below outlines his physical, tough-tackling role at the back for Derby last season, ranking highly for ‘true’ tackles — a metric that outlines how often a defender ‘sticks a foot in’, as well as aerial duels.

While his success rate dips slightly due to the high-volume nature of his defending, his fearlessness was encouraging throughout his first full campaign in senior football. Cashin threw himself in the way of 39 shots — the fifth-highest total in the division — and has made a league-leading 299 ball recoveries, at a rate of seven per game, acting as a capable sweeper when he cannot be aggressive and nick the ball away. His performances earned him the club’s young player of the season award as Derby missed out on a top-six finish by just one point.
After rising through the youth ranks at Derby, Cashin played a key role in their under-18 title-winning side in 2018-19 and then progressed into the under-19s run to the UEFA Youth League round of 16 the following season. He was rewarded with his first senior contract at the end of the 2019-20 season and signed a two-year extension as well as being given the No 6 shirt last summer, reflecting the high regard he is held in.
He has been capped for the Republic of Ireland at under-21 level and there were fears Derby could lose Cashin when they were in administration and saw the exits of a number of talented young players including Lee Buchanan, Festy Ebosele and Malcolm Ebiowei during a fire sale following relegation from the Championship in 2022.
Cashin’s technical strengths and confidence on the ball make him an exciting player to watch, with his long-range switches of play often allowing Derby to release wide players, as shown in the stills below from a 1-0 win over Cambridge United in December.


Cashin’s long ball released Nathaniel Mendez-Laing on the right in a direct-but-effective diagonal switch of play. Similarly, in the following images from Derby’s 2-1 win over Exeter City in April, Davies and Conor Hourihane moved the ball out of a tight spot where they were under pressure by playing a triangle of passes to Cashin, highlighted.

Cashin then took a touch to the centre of the pitch and threaded a pass through the midfield to Sibley, with David McGoldrick offering an option on the left wing. Derby quickly turned a moment of defensive pressure into an attack thanks to Cashin’s vision and ability to play the pass.

And while he is just over 6ft (183cm) and has a good leaping ability to win challenges in the air, Cashin is capable of delivering a good cross with his left foot, as shown by the below example against Sheffield Wednesday in December.


In this case, Forsyth is unable to get the ball on target under pressure from the Wednesday defence.
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Cashin still has a lot to learn but has displayed good leadership and is a well-respected and vocal member of the Derby squad.
Earlier in his career, while progressing through the age groups, managers were concerned with holding on to him for their teams, given his potential to move to older age groups. There was always a strong belief he would become a first-team regular.
His first goal for the club came in April 2022 against Blackpool and he scored once last season. Expect Cashin to play an even more important role this season as they target a return to the Championship at the second time of asking.
(Photo: Barrington Coombs/PA Images via Getty Images)
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