Tyrone Mings discusses his early struggles and the ‘awful’ moments that made him a better player

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Aston Villa star Tyrone Mings has opened up on the early struggles in his career and the injury problems that ultimately made him a better player in an interview with Josh Denzel on Goal’s YouTube channel.

The defender gave a very honest account of the obstacles he’s had to overcome in his career.

The Villans’ centre-back has certainly had an interesting journey from being released by Southampton as a youngster, all the way to becoming an England international.

“Obviously I was released from Southampton at 15, 16, and then my Mum wrote to every club about me, saying ‘my son’s just been released’ as Mum’s do.

“Of course, they never really wrote back, some wrote back saying ‘we’ve filled our allocation’, but I think that was maybe five or six, but most never did. So that was a reality check,” Mings said.

He would then go on to talk about working more conventional jobs in his teenage years before getting his big break with Ipswich Town.

Unfortunately, injuries would plague Mings’ early days, picking up a myriad of problems during his time at Bournemouth.

“Obviously the injuries were awful, obviously I got injured six minutes into my Premier and was out for 15 months, came back, got a stress fracture in my back, was out for another eight or nine months.

“Like I said, there are things you can never prepare for, and they’re things that ultimately have the potential to derail careers.

“But if I look back on my journey there’s not one thing that I would change because it’s made me a better person and it’s made me a better player as well.”

It’s interesting to hear that Mings thinks his tough times have made him a better player.

The 27-year-old certainly seems like one of the most humble players in the Premier League, and he’s always willing to give back to the community, even going as far as to spend one Christmas helping out the less fortunate.

Fortunately, the setbacks and the injuries didn’t stop Mings from achieving his dream of becoming an elite footballer, and his story should act as an inspiration for anyone chasing their goals.