Quotes from Michail Antonio

I had to be resilient playing non-League because I was 17 playing against men. I always knew how to beat someone and how to use my body. And that's one thing academy players don't really learn. Because in the academy you're playing against people your age. I was always playing against men.

Life is a results game. You turn up late for work four or five times, you get sacked. It's doing the right things and that's one thing I've learned about life. Everything is about results.

There's no better feeling than scoring a goal in front of fans.

I'm an attacking player who likes to score goals. I love scoring goals.

There's nothing better than scoring a goal and hearing a roar from the fans.

I remember going home one day and telling my brother that I was going to give up football because I was 17 and was too old. My brother said he wouldn't let me. He got me my first pair of real boots and those were the boots I managed to become professional in.

I always want my shirt, I always want to play.

I was semipro at Tooting & Mitcham. They paid the tax and we got paid cash in hand. I told my mum, 'I'm getting paid to play football' and she took half of my wages. So of my very first paycheque, my mum got half of it. I call it 'mummy tax.'

This is my boyhood dream to play for England.

I always want to make enough for my kids. So if they want to go to university, I can pay for them to go. Maybe buy their first car, buy their first house for them so they can go out and work and not know the struggle I went through. That is my mission. If I can do that by the time I have retired, then I have accomplished everything I wanted to.

Obviously I've been friends with loads of white people and there's certain things that happen and even though they're constantly around black people, they still don't understand. So maybe they can also educate themselves as well.

Being honest, when I was playing for Tooting & Mitcham, I was buzzing, thinking: 'I'm semi-pro.' Then when I made my debut in League One, I was buzzing again, thinking 'I'm pro.' Then it was the Championship, then the Premier League, and then called up for England. And each time it happened, it was a surprise to me.

In the area I grew up, there were loads of gangs and stuff like that, and I was a bit of a fighter growing up. So, it was easy to be attracted to it, but I had my brother there giving me good advice, telling me it's pointless joining gangs, and things like that. I've always listened to him.

I kept going out on loan because I wasn't getting much time at Reading. Then I went to Sheffield Wednesday and then Nottingham Forest and I managed to get to West Ham, where I always wanted to be - the Premier League.

It's good to have the option to have someone else who can come in and play in different positions.

Obviously scoring goals in pre-season is good to help you bring it into the season, but the most important thing is doing it in the Premier League, doing it in the Europa League and doing it when it actually matters.

It sounds beautiful to be called West Ham's top Premier League scorer.

I always believed I was a Premier League player, but in the first few months when I wasn't getting a game I started to doubt whether I was good enough. Everyone kept on telling me: 'Wait for your opportunity and make sure that you take it' - and that's what I did.

There are times I pinch myself. There are times where I'll wake up and be like, 'I've got four kids,' or I'm like, 'I'm actually playing in the Premier League.'

I don't see any difference between any games, whether it's a Premier League game, a cup game, an FA Cup game; all those games are the same for me. I want to score in every single game I play.

Academy wingers always pick up the ball and then cut inside or lay it off. No one runs at players like I do, or gets to the back stick and overpowers a defender.

Certain things have happened in my life where it has been crazy touch-and-go situations, but it has let me know that, even if there are going to be difficult times, there's always a bright side to everything.

The way I play, people might say I'm not technically the best. They say I'm powerful, I'm strong. But one thing I learned from when I was young is how to help my team win the game. And that's scoring goals and being strong.

I had a short temper growing up.