CHERRIES talent Aaron Ramsdale admitted doubters during his youth career spurred him on and said: "It's definitely an 'I've proved you wrong' sort of thing."

The goalkeeper is in contention to feature for England under-21s in Euro 2021 qualifiers against Turkey on Friday and Kosovo on Monday after claiming the starting berth in Eddie Howe's side.

The 21-year-old's route to the Premier League included being released by Bolton aged 15 after being told he was "too small and couldn't kick".

Unsuccessful trials followed before he was signed by Sheffield United and he subsequently joined Cherries in January 2017.

After loans at Chesterfield in 2017-18 and AFC Wimbledon last term, Ramsdale impressed in pre-season and played every minute of the Dorset club's first four league games this season.

Discussing overcoming setbacks in his career to date, Ramsdale said: "A lot of people have had rejection and probably worse stories than me, but it's definitely an 'I've proved you wrong' sort of thing.

"When you watch yourself on Match of the Day, which I watched as a kid like everyone else, it really is a pinch yourself moment. It's like 'wow'.

"I did five years at Bolton. As a 15-year-old I got released. I was too small and couldn't kick were the reasons they gave me. At the time it was true, but they never sort of gave me the chance to grow.

"I trialled all around the country, had quite a lot of rejections and then found myself at Sheffield United.

"I struggled a lot as a first-year scholar, came back as a second-year and sort of grew up a little bit more. I started finding my feet, performances were getting better and then about a year-and-a-half later, Bournemouth came in and bid for me.

"I had a tough loan spell with Chesterfield, getting relegated. Then Wimbledon last year was hopefully the start of many good seasons to come."

Ramsdale said he returned for pre-season with Cherries over the summer thinking a move to the Championship on loan would be the best thing for him, mentioning Swansea and Huddersfield as clubs that were interested in him.

However, he took encouragement from featuring in friendlies ahead of the new campaign before getting the nod from boss Howe for the Sheffield United game ahead of Artur Boruc, Mark Travers and the now-departed Asmir Begovic.

"He (Howe) said, 'The shirt is now yours until you give me a reason to rethink it'," said Ramsdale.

"It was a big deep breath moment and a celebration inside, but obviously you've got to keep your feet on the ground.

"It's taken a bit of time to sink in - I got sort of thrown in. But that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to hit the challenge, full steam ahead. The manager has shown so much belief in me and hopefully I can repay him with performances."