CHARLIE AUSTIN

When I was a builder, I drove a blue van. It had a hole in the floor and I couldn't afford to fix it. I put a concrete block over the hole.

I've still got the hunger and yeah, a point to prove. Everybody loves playing in the Premier League, don't they?

Sometimes people say to me that I celebrate over the top, but when you score, the emotion... you just can't control it. It's the same with owning a horse that wins.

When I went to Burnley I'd only been a pro for 14 months. I wasn't even entirely sure where it was! I always lived at home with my mum and dad and it's a long way from Bournemouth.

I used to get up at six and drive for an hour in my blue van from Bournemouth to Basingstoke - they were the tough days.

People ask me for autographs now and I think to myself: 'Are you sure?'

The play-offs are the sexy way to get promoted, playing in front of 90,000 people at Wembley, but you always want to do it automatically. If you come first or second, ultimately you've been better than the other teams over 46 games.

My life had changed from being a bricklayer to a regular goalscorer in League One.

I've got a strong family, close friends and hobbies outside football that keep my feet on the ground.

Football doesn't hold back for anyone. There's no waiting around. If you don't take your chances they will soon pass you by. You have to be mature and take it one step at a time.

Sometimes people say to me that I celebrate over the top, but when you score, the emotion... you just can't control it. It's the same with owning a horse that wins.

When I went to Burnley I'd only been a pro for 14 months. I wasn't even entirely sure where it was! I always lived at home with my mum and dad and it's a long way from Bournemouth.

Football doesn't hold back for anyone. There's no waiting around. If you don't take your chances they will soon pass you by. You have to be mature and take it one step at a time.

I went for a warm-up and got called back and the fans started singing my name when I was sat on the bench. I thought: 'Oh my god. There are 25,000 people in the ground and there are around 1,000 Swindon fans singing a 20-year-old's name that has just been working on a building site.'

People ask me what it's like scoring a goal. Well, think of the best thing that could happen to you and times it by 10.

It's not nice getting up at 6 am, when it's pitch black and you have to get in a van with 10 other lads, to go and work in a muddy building site in the winter, and not get home until 5.30 or 6.

I get excited about all the things in football. But when I have days when I get too carried away with myself I look back at where I've come from.

Like many professional footballers, I have the legacy of injuries picked up over my career but the effect on my day-to-day training and on matchday is non-existent.

I'll just get my head down, work hard in training and in the games and I'm just here playing for Burnley and that's what I like doing.

I've still got the hunger and yeah, a point to prove. Everybody loves playing in the Premier League, don't they?

People ask me for autographs now and I think to myself: 'Are you sure?'

The play-offs are the sexy way to get promoted, playing in front of 90,000 people at Wembley, but you always want to do it automatically. If you come first or second, ultimately you've been better than the other teams over 46 games.

My dad would let me leave work an hour early if I had a game. I'd drive back an hour to Bournemouth, get my bag ready and be off to the game for a half six meet - so on a Tuesday it was a rush.

My life had changed from being a bricklayer to a regular goalscorer in League One.

I used to get up at six and drive for an hour in my blue van from Bournemouth to Basingstoke - they were the tough days.

When I was a builder, I drove a blue van. It had a hole in the floor and I couldn't afford to fix it. I put a concrete block over the hole.

I don't want to be a bit-part player, I want to be right in the mix with everybody else.

I've got a strong family, close friends and hobbies outside football that keep my feet on the ground.

I'm a big, loud character and some people don't like that.