My failures were something for me - my first contact with professional football. Though it didn't go all that well, it's not a regret, it's just like that. But looking back, those failures helped me consider football differently, consider the professional game differently.

I can talk with my team-mates, understand them and it's better for understanding the coaching staff and the game itself. If someone's making a run and they shout for the ball, I know now.

I came to Chelsea to work, to keep learning and to keep improving.

To be honest, it was only when I was first in the French Ligue 1 that my manager and other people started to say, 'Okay, N'Golo recovers a lot of balls.' Before that, I didn't consider it to be my job in the team.