Walsall midfielder Erhun Oztumer has spoken to the local media ahead of Saturday afternoon's League One clash with Charlton Athletic, a club which released him in 2008, and has discussed how his small stature affected his early career.
Erhun, who was speaking to BBC WM Sport, also discussed how he uses comments about his height as a motivator, he said; "If you're good enough you're tall enough. Every day I get told I'm too small. I still have to stretch really high in the supermarket to get stuff. On the pitch, I've made it an advantage for me. I've learnt what to do and what not to do and it doesn't bother me any more."
Oztumer who played for the likes of Anadolu Üsküdar, Dulwich Hamlet and Peterborough United before joining the Saddlers last summer, then went on to discuss the progress he has made since making the switch to Banks's Stadium, he said; "I feel I've progressed a lot this year. I was at Charlton for nine years to the age of 16, then didn't get offered a scholarship. But, at the time, they were a Premier League side with a very good academy.
"When you get released at that age, you think is it over for me? Am I going to be a professional? I dropped into non-league but I've worked my way back up, it's been a learning curve and I think I'm better for it."