Derby County player of the decade vote is a real honour for me, says Craig Bryson

St Johnstone star Craig Bryson says being named Derby County's Player of the Decade for the 2010s is a real honour, and one he didn't expect.

A BBC poll asked supporters to vote for their player of the decade over several spells, with Bryson winning one of the accolades.

The 35-year-old from East Kilbride was with Derby from 2011 to 2019, having joined from Kilmarnock, and says fans were great with him for the whole time, earning him two Player of the Year awards.

But the talented midfielder says this latest accolade from the Pride Park faithful is a real honour.

Bryson said: "It means quite a lot to me. For me, that was an unbelievable achievement. Being named player of the year is one thing, and I got that twice down there at Derby in my time, but to be voted the best player at a club over a 10-year spell is tremendous.

"If you had told me that when I was joining Derby I'd never have believed you.

Bryson says he would have been virtually unknown when he went to Derby, but fans took to him (Getty Images)

"It's definitely the best part of my career by far. Being down at a club of that size and magnitude, spending so much time down there, winning a good few games.

"We had some really good times, some difficult times like losing play-off finals and semi-finals and stuff like that.

"The icing on the cake would have been promotion with Derby and that would have given me the chance of playing in the Premiership with them, but that wasn't to be, and it's just one of those things you have to deal with."

Bryson added: "It's a real honour. Even any time I've been back down, the fans have always been great with me. They were great near enough since the day I signed.

"Considering that when I did sign they probably didn't know who I was, because I went from Kilmarnock in the SPL down to Derby, so I was probably a bit of an unknown, but I think they just liked the way I played.

Bryson says he has always given 100 per cent throughout his career, which is appreciated by fans (SNS Group)

"It didn't matter if I was having a good game or a bad game, I'd always give it 100 per cent, and most fans appreciate that. That's what I did in every game.

"In a season at Derby you're playing 50-odd games and you're not going to play well in all of them, but the one thing you can control is your work-rate, attitude and desire, and that's what I've always done for my whole career.

"The Derby fans appreciated that, they still do, and to this day on social media and stuff like that, and any time I get back down to Derby, everybody has been great with me."

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