Derby County manager Wayne Rooney has handed a full debut to 2019 Golden Eaglets invitee Malcolm Ebiowei as the Rans returned to winning ways by beating Barnsley 2-0 in a Championship clash at Pride Park at the weekend.
Ebiowei, who is also eligible to play international football for England and Netherlands, was named in Nigeria’s provisional squad list for the 2019 Fifa U17 World Cup hosted by Brazil after catching the eye of the coaching staff led by Manu Garba in a training camp in Turkey.
Having tasted action off the bench in five of the last six league games played by Derby County before the visit of the Reds, Ebiowei was named in the starting lineup for the first time in his professional career.
Rooney’s side were ahead at the break thanks to Ravel Morrison who dinked the ball over the goalkeeper to open the scoring in the 22nd minute.
Two minutes into the second half, Morrison doubled the advantage when he hammered home the rebound after Lawrence’s shot cannoned back off the crossbar.
Ebiowei had a strong debut and a goal would have capped off a fine performance but his effort went inches wide as he attempted to bend the ball into the bottom corner on 58 minutes.
The 18-year-old attacking midfielder was replaced in the 65th minute, taking his total minutes for the first team to 110 since February 8, 2022.
