Quote of the day

"Growing up was difficult. I started playing football when I was about ten for a very local team. There were a lot of ­materials lacking. We did not even have football boots. I played for nearly five years barefoot and it teaches you how to control the ball and pass from an early age. I was 15 before I got my first pair of football boots. Now we have everything – then we certainly didn’t."

It's fair to say our midfield revelation Cheik Tiote retains a sense of perspective.