Jamie Vardy insists his remarkable rise from non-league football
to Premier League star leaves the Leicester City striker pinching himself every
day.
As recently as 2012 the 29-year-old was playing in the Conference
for Fleetwood Town but is now the leading scorer in the top flight and has just
signed a new £80,000-a-week contract.
Vardy has netted 18 Premier League goals this season to fire
Leicester five points clear at the top of the table and is a shoo-in to be part
of Roy Hodgson's England squad at this summer's European Championship in
France.
And Vardy, who helped Leicester earn a
3-1 win against title rivals Manchester City at the Etihad on Saturday, has
admitted even he could not have predicted his upward trajectory.
'I do have to pinch myself every day
really but it has taken a lot of hard work to be honest,' Vardy said.
'It wasn't nice playing and having to
work full-time all day, so I had to put the work in at first just to get a
half-decent club.
'It's a rise that I wouldn't have
predicted to happen but it's credit to me for the work I've put in as well. I
literally wish I could play football every day and can carry on playing.
'You hear some players say that it's
just a job for them but for me it is nothing like that. I've worked so hard to
get here and I want to keep being here as long as I can. I enjoy every minute
of it.
'When I was at Halifax I never thought
I would earn a move to the Conference but I got that, then kicked on and from
there you would never have thought there would be a move to Leicester, then
playing for England.
'You would never have thought it in a
million years. But it has happened. It has all worked out well but there has
been so much hard work put in it's untrue.'
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