Monday 4 April 2016 13:14, UK
Wes Morgan has played every minute of Leicester's remarkable Premier League season and it was his goal on Sunday that sent the Foxes seven points clear with just six games to go.
The 32-year-old headed home to seal a precious 1-0 win over Southampton on Super Sunday to draw the prospect of a maiden top-flight crown ever closer.
Here, his former Nottingham Forest team-mate Gregor Robertson reflects on his friend's remarkable rise from overweight youth-team player to captain of the Premier League's unlikely champions-in-the-making...
What makes Leicester City's fairytale rise to the summit of the Premier league so enchanting is just how much their players are clearly relishing the experience.
Like many in Leicester's ranks, Wes Morgan's journey to this point has not been a straightforward one, and the spirit with which he and his band of brothers have tackled the giants of the Premier League highlights why they have captivated the very heart of English football this season.
Born two days apart, 'Big Wes' and I played together in his early days at Nottingham Forest and it can be said with certainty that anyone who knows him will be genuinely delighted to see the success he is currently enjoying.
An imposing presence, but easy-going and good-humoured, Morgan is hugely popular in Leicester's changing room and is one of those people you would be hard-pressed to hear a bad word spoken about.
But back in 2002, when 17-year-old Morgan first walked into the youth-team changing room at the City Ground, there were more than a few eyebrows raised at the lumbering, giant of a boy who had apparently been invited to join us for a trial.
Released by neighbouring Notts County 18 months earlier when the all-important full-time contracts were being handed out, he had all but given up on football.
He signed for Dunkirk in the Central Midland League and enrolled on a business studies course at South Notts College, harbouring thoughts of becoming an accountant because he "knew the money was pretty good" and he "wasn't too bad at maths".
It was the coach of his college football team, Chris Dowling, who recommended Morgan to Forest and, after a week that turned into a month on trial, he was given a short-term contract that came with one clear caveat, even if it was an unwritten one.
I basically got told I had to lose weight. Let's just say I was quite a big kid!
"I basically got told I had to lose weight," the Leicester captain told me recently. "Let's just say I was quite a big kid! Obviously they must have seen something in me, but they knew I was nowhere near the fitness levels required. So for the rest of the season I just had to run and train hard to get my weight down."
When the rest of the youth-team players retired to their digs adjacent to the stadium after training each afternoon, no more than a hundred yards away Morgan could be found running laps of the City Ground pitch with extra layers of clothing on like a boxer trying to cut weight for a fight.
"I remember Paul Hart was [first-team] manager at that time," he said. "[Youth-team coach] John Pemberton more or less kept me hidden from him because of the shape I was in! I never played a game. On Saturdays I had to do a running session and then just watch the lads play their match. That went on for the rest of the season."
By the end of that season however, 'Big Wes' had shed almost two and a half stone, and although he "learned the hard way" about the importance of keeping his body conditioned, the boy from the Meadows - one of Nottingham's poorest council estates - would go on to play over 400 times for his local club and establish himself as one of the best defenders in the Championship.
He always felt comfortable in the knowledge that he could match anyone physically, but the experience he gained in those years is what brought his game to the next level.
"I think it's taken me quite a few years to learn exactly what I need to do in my position," said the Jamaica international. "Instead of relying on my physicality as my main tool, I've learned how to read the game more and position myself where I need to be".
Despite a hat-trick of team-of-the-year awards and a place in the Football League team-of-the-decade, as he approached his 30s, three play-off defeats and no Premier League suitors forthcoming meant he was seriously doubting whether the chance to test himself in the top flight was ever going to come.
His move to Leicester in 2012 proved to be the catalyst for him to do just that. In the past two years he has enjoyed promotion to and survival in the Premier League and a trip to the Copa America with Jamaica where he faced the likes of Lionel Messi and Edinson Cavani.
His fairytale journey with Leicester this season means that at the age of 32 his career has suddenly taken on a whole new dimension.
Claudio Ranieri's side are just 12 points from being assured of Premier League glory when, as Morgan admits, survival was the lowly aim back in the summer.
"It's like a ride you don't want to stop," Morgan said.
"It's an amazing feeling. I can't believe we are where we are, but I must say that on the balance of play we deserve to be here.
"Our goal at the start of the season was survival and getting to that magic 40 points mark."
"We've strived all our careers to get to where we are. It's just incredible. But we are here on merit."
