The England manager didn't think I was good enough, and as a professional, you have to take it. Sure, it was disappointing, but all you can do is carry on playing well for your club and hope it changes. Unfortunately, it didn't.

David Silva at Man City was my favourite player to play with; we had a good understanding on the pitch.

I'm never going to be seen as an attacking midfielder who's going to dribble past anyone, create untold chances, and score lots of goals, but going forward is something I've always enjoyed doing.

When I started my career, we were running around water parks and ridiculous things like that. You used to drive in dreading pre-season back then, but now you know it's going to be pretty tough, but it's going to be probably what you need. It's going to be good for you instead of just slogging away.

If you make one thing your life and soul - as much as football is my career and main focus - then it turns into a very mentally unstable place to be.

Football sometimes has a bad reputation. Some of that is deserved... and some of it isn't.

I'm active - I like playing football, but I'm not very good. I like running, but I'm not really fast.

Being a lifelong athlete, I am a firm believer that I am who I am today because of sports. Not only did it give me structure and a solid foundation, but it gave me a sense of failure and how to overcome failure.