WORLDLY Cherries skipper Simon Francis revealed how his rejection by Nottingham Forest as a youngster had ultimately benefited his career.

The defender grew up in a Forest-mad family and spent seven years in the youth set-up at bitter rivals Notts County from the age of nine.

He thought he had earned his dream ticket when offered a trial by the City Ground outfit but after failing to make the grade, he joined Bradford.

Francis career took in spells at Sheffield United, Grimsby, Tranmere, Southend and Charlton before he linked up with Cherries – initially on loan before signing permanently – during the club’s League One days.

Asked if his rejection by Forest had been good for his career, Francis, speaking ahead of friendlies at Bristol City tomorrow (7pm) and former employers Forest on Saturday, told the Daily Echo: “Certainly. If they had not rejected me then I wouldn’t have ended up where I am now.

“I fully understood their decision. I hadn’t been fit for a long time. I’d had an injury at Notts County and went to Forest on trial.

“You don’t get long to impress when you are young, so I didn’t get in there.

“The bigger picture was I ended up going to Bradford and my debut was actually against Forest at the City Ground. It is funny how football turns out.

“More and more nowadays, you get players who are filled with a lot of confidence and get paid a lot of money at a very young age and they think that’s what it’s all about.

“Then, all of a sudden they find themselves struggling at a League One or League Two club.

“Back in the day, the money which is being thrown around now wasn’t there, so you had to really work hard and prove yourself to get yourself in the first team at Championship clubs.

“Football is such a massive game financially nowadays that you see a lot of young players go to waste because they can’t get into first teams because of big signings from abroad.

“It’s a shame but, hopefully, it means a lot of players are working hard to prove themselves.”

Cherries have already faced La Liga opposition in Sevilla and Levante in pre-season, drawing 1-1 against the former and defeating the latter 4-3.

And Real Betis and Marseille are still on the menu ahead of the Premier League curtain-raiser at home to Cardiff City,

Francis said: “We didn’t start too great last season and that may have been down to not playing the kind of opposition we would have liked in pre-season and not getting our match fitness up.

“I don’t think we have any excuses this time round. We have some great opposition and everyone will get the game time they need so we are ready for the Premier League campaign.”