Quotes from Jamie Vardy

When I lived in Hungerford, it was wake up 5:30 A.M., get to the van at 6 A.M. with eight other blokes, drive to Shinfield, which is in Reading, 45 minutes away. Start at 7:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. with two half-hour breaks and then home. Train Tuesday and Thursday and then play on Saturday.

I pinch myself every day anyway. Everyone knows the road I have had in the game and how I have managed to get myself to where I am today.

My life has changed, but I'm not money-motivated at all; that's the last thing on my mind. I just want to play football, and that's how I've always been.

You hear players in the past say that it's just a job for them, but for me, it is nothing like that. I literally wish I could play football every day.

When I was living on my own, for a footballer it's easy to do the things that you're not supposed to, or not what the sport science team says. For example, if there's a packet of crisps, you're going to eat them. The same with a packet of sweets. Go to bed at a certain time? You're not going to if you're on your own.

Moving to Fleetwood was a shock to the system at first. I'd never been at a full-time club.

Obviously, when you're doing fitness work at a club all week and every week, it's all about specific drills for what you need to do on the pitch. So I'd be doing a different drill to the centre-midfielders. It's all specifically tailored for me. For example, my drills are high speed. It's all about trying to break the line with a sharp sprint.

I love a good paella, so I'd love to be able to know how to cook one.

Confidence is sky high, but we're also all very grounded. We know, in football, nothing can be taken for granted.

If I go in the gym, it will slow me down. I don't go in for weights or anything like that. Each and every person is different, and this is my way, and I'm sure if someone else tried doing what I do, then it probably wouldn't work for them.

It wasn't nice having to work full-time. It's a rise that I wouldn't have predicted, but it's a good example for younger players of what can be achieved.

Being in the Premier League would be a dream come true.

There is only one thing I want to do here, and that is play football to the best of my ability. If I let things start distracting me, I'm not going to be able to do that, which will jeopardise the team as well.

Competition for places can only benefit you. If you know you've got that much competition, then you're just going to have to work that extra bit harder so you can catch the gaffer's eye.

I am so proud of what I've achieved personally, but without the lads around me, nothing would have been possible.

When training and matches are finished, we'll all go out and have food together; we're always in touch with each other.

Just as I am working hard to adjust to a new level, someone comes along and asks me to move up again. I'm not complaining about it; I just get on with trying to make sure I don't let anyone down. Training with England is just a different gravy again. Movement-wise, finishing-wise, you can learn such a lot from watching the very best in action.

I got given a pair of Christmas socks with penguins on. They know you're obviously not going to wear them. I think they do it just to annoy you, to be honest.

You do get a chance to think about things when you're at home, but that is when you want to relax and forget about football for a bit. Honestly, you don't really get time to stop and think about things. We have a job to do. That is all we concentrate on, going game by game.

If you go into a tournament thinking that you're not going to do anything, you might as well not be there because you won't achieve anything.

When I was playing for the reserves, if you got a call-up you got a straight £30. I'd never been paid for football!

If you're not playing with any confidence, then you're not going to play well at all. You've always got to have that inner confidence, and that comes with the goals.

When you are moulding 30 an hour, it takes its toll on your body. It got to the point where my back was just hanging off. It was time to say, 'I can't do this any more'.

The word 'racist' is a permanent stain against my name. It's worse than a criminal record. Some people will never forgive me. Others will accept I made a terrible mistake and recognise I have learnt from it. It's on YouTube when my kids type in their dad's name, and it comes up 'Jamie Vardy racist'. On Google, too. It's horrible.