Leicester City star Jaime Vardy says "so much hard work" has gone into his astonishing rise from non-League footballer to the top of Premier League.
The striker, who signed a £80,000-a-week contract extension with the Foxes this week, was playing for Fleetwood Town three years ago, but now finds himself as the Prem's top-scorer and has four England caps.
Leicester's excellent 3-0 weekend win over Manchester City underlined the club's title credentials but, rather than feeling the pressure, Vardy is purely focused on playing the sport he loves.
"I literally wish I could play football every day and can carry on playing," Vardy told the Express.
"Because of the way I've come into it, I think I appreciate it more. You hear some players say that it's just a job for them but for me it is nothing like that.
"I've worked so hard to get here and I want to keep being here as long as I can. I enjoy every minute of it."
Vardy's rags-to-riches story began at FC Halifax Town in the fifth tier of English football pyramid and could well end up with a Premiership medal this campaign.
"When I was at Halifax I never thought I would earn a move to the Conference but I got that, then kicked on," Vardy said.
"From there you would never have thought there would be a move to Leicester, then playing for England.
"You would never have thought it in a million years. But it has happened. It has all worked out well but there has been so much hard work put in it's untrue."