TOMMY SMITH admits Sunderland's unwillingness to come up with a suitable contract led to him opting for a move to Derby County in the summer.

Smith will be in the Rams forward line tomorrow lunchtime when the Black Cats travel to Pride Park and the ex-Watford forward is hoping to build on the eight goals he has this season.

After initially spending time on trial at the Stadium of Light, manager Mick McCarthy offered the 24-year-old an opportunity to shine until the end of the 2003-04 campaign.

However, after being only on the fringes of Sunderland's rise into the play-offs last season, the club took their time in coming up with a new terms.

And when Smith returned from a holiday he was pleased to hear that Derby were offering improved terms and a longer-term deal.

"It was difficult making the decision to leave Sunderland," said Smith, who only made 22 league appearances for Sunderland and 13 of those were as a substitute.

"I'd just bought a house and I was looking to stay but talks with the chairman (Bob Murray) were postponed and postponed and that gave Derby the chance to nip in.

"It was all a bit of a rush in the end and I didn't have long to think about what I was doing. It was a tough decision to take but pre-season was coming up and time was running out. Derby's offer was there and Sunderland's wasn't."

Smith, who spent six years at Watford before joining Sunderland, is now relishing the prospect of trying to help Derby into the Premiership.

The Rams are just three points off a play-off place but have lost their last two league matches at Pride Park to Millwall and Cardiff.

Nevertheless hopes are high at the east midlands club that under the mangership of former Sunderland defender George Burley Derby can reclaim their place back in the Premiership after three years in the Football League.

And Smith said: "Things are going well for me at Derby. The people here have made it easy for me to settle in and we have quite a good team here.

"We're a bit short at the back and I know the management are trying to strengthen the defence. But that makes our progress in the last few weeks even more encouraging.

"We've surprised a few people this season but I thought this team would do well. We've won four of our last six league games but we seem to play better on our travels. The two defeats have both come at home and we were terrible. Hopefully things will change against Sunderland but they're not the team you'd want to be facing after two successive Championship defeats at Pride Park.

"They've done very well again this season and we know all about the threat they pose."

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