Monday 16 January 2017 00:20, UK
Burnley midfielder Joey Barton admits he is being driven on by those who doubted him following his turbulent spell at Rangers.
Barton parted company with Rangers by mutual consent in November following a dreadful two-and-a-half month stint in Scotland and returned to Burnley earlier this month on a deal until the end of the season.
The 34-year-old, who played a major role in the Clarets' promotion to the Premier League last season, enjoyed a perfect return to the club by scoring the winner on his first league appearance back in England in Saturday's 1-0 victory over Southampton at Turf Moor.
"I feel I'm in a better place physically and mentally," he said.
"I'm a lot more hungry because people have written me off. I'm a lot more humble because the club didn't have to show this faith in me.
"It hasn't been an easy couple of months as you can imagine. There are not that many players who take that route of going to Scotland, it not working out, and before you know it, it's January and you're back playing in the Premier League and scoring the winner. Even I didn't think that was possible.
"Sometimes things just work out funny. Football is a funny old game.
"The amount of people who wrote me off after what happened in Scotland...not many people make it back after it not going to plan in the SPL.
“They don't really come back and hit the ground running in the Premier League. Fortunately, I don't really believe in what's written about me: good, bad or indifferent. I just keep on doing my own thing."
Barton signed a two-year deal with Rangers in May having featured 40 times during the 2015-16 season as Sean Dyche's side clinched the Sky Bet Championship title.
However, he managed to make only eight appearances for Rangers during his short spell in the Scottish Premiership and was effectively banished from Ibrox in September after being banned for breaching club discipline.
The decision to join Rangers is one Barton is not looking back on and he insists his focus is now solely on the future, with Burnley on course to secure their Premier League status.
"I don't really do regrets," he added.
"If you go through the rollercoaster of my life, I don't really focus on the past. It's probably my greatest strength and my greatest weakness at the same time.
"I just keep pushing forward. If I focused on the past too much, I wouldn't do what I've done in my career because there's so much nonsense that goes on around me. You just have to keep believing in what you are about.
"There's a conversation for another day about what went on. I'm not standing here saying, 'That's two fingers up to anybody'. Life's too short for that. I just feel incredibly privileged and humble to be given the opportunity to be back playing for this football club."
Barton was afforded a hero's return at Turf Moor before the stadium erupted when his free-kick found its way past Fraser Forster via a deflection.
"People forget I left this club so they would have been within their rights to boo me," Barton said.
"That reception makes me incredibly humble and I was just so proud to come on and receive that.
"Sometimes at football clubs, it just fits. From the minute I've walked into this football club, it just works. They understand me and I understand them."
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