[2] His first experience of first team football came when he was named as a substitute for Derby County's FA Cup 3rd Round tie at Millwall in January 2010.

He made his full debut as a late substitute in Derby's 2–0 victory over Cardiff City on the final day of the 2009–10 season.

[2] Ball again featured on the senior substitute bench for the games against Burnley and at Norwich City over the Easter holiday period, managing to get his 3rd and 4th first team appearance as a late substitute in both games,[9][10] with Derby manager Nigel Clough hinting at his desire for Ball to break into the First Team in the 2011/12 season.

[11] Ball made his full debut on the final day of the 2010/11 season in a 2–1 defeat away to Reading, a match in which he had his first professional goal wrongly disallowed for offside.

The week after the end of the campaign, Derby announced Ball would be given a first-year professional contract following the completion of the club's scholarship programme.

[16] Ball became a regular in the Rams matchday 16 until he picked up an ankle injury in a reserves game against Belper Town on 26 March 2012.

He finally opened his account for Torquay with a brace in the club's tenth match of the season, a 4–2 win against Cheltenham Town on 21 September.

He scored 5 goals in two friendly matches against Blyth Spartans and Whitley Bay, which prompted the club to agree a one-year contract, with the option of a further year.