Ivan Toney has spoken out about his experience of leaving Newcastle United earlier in his career.
The Brentford striker has shone in the Premier League in the last year or so, and is now looking forward to his first England call-up.
Still, Toney had the chance to make it at Newcastle earlier in his career – a move the Magpies must now be regretting after witnessing his remarkable rise since then.
“I would say leaving Newcastle when I went to Peterborough, that was an eye-opener,” he told the Daily Star.
“That was like ‘right, I have to turn my game around to get back up, I might see myself as a Premier League player, but I am a League One player now, I have got to keep fighting and working hard’ – and I certainly did that.
“That was a factor that did come into play, (proving Newcastle wrong). I felt like: ‘you got rid of me. I am going to show you what I am capable of when I get the chance, whether it is a Premier League side or a League One side.’
“When I left Newcastle and went to Peterborough, I wasn’t straight in the team so I had to work much harder. It was about being patient and when your chance comes to take it with both hands. I certainly did that.
“Looking back if I was a Newcastle owner or manager looking back at a 20-year-old Ivan Toney, would I have taken him? Probably not. They have done what they had to do. They felt I wasn’t good enough, so it was up to me to pick myself up and go again.”