Rickie Lambert's career is as close to Roy of the Rovers as you can get in modern day football.
Released by boyhood club Liverpool, he worked in a beetroot bottling plant before rising back up through the leagues.
His spell at Bristol Rovers between 2006 and 2009 is when he went from lower-league striker to hot property and he earned a move to Southampton.
With the Saints, he scored over 100 times as they won back-to-back promotions to the Premier League.
An England call-up, and a goal on his debut, followed, before a dream move back to Liverpool for one season.
In this exclusive interview with Subs Bench, he opens up on his time at the Gas, why it was time to leave when he did, and how it felt returning to Anfield 17 years after he was released.
