The revival under Ralph Hasenhüttl has left Danny Ings dreaming of a brave new world at Southampton next season.
Six games, four wins, a five point gap from the bottom three and a game in hand. Ings , a man whose fighting spirit is well documented, is at a club where his desire will fit right in.
“I honestly think we are going to look like a new team next season.” he told Mirror Sport. "Look at the form guide and how we’ve done since he has come in.
“We’ve made massive steps. So you can only imagine how it’s going to be once we’ve had a full pre-season under him and we are raring to go in August.
“It’s going to be great. Something that the fans and everybody at the football club can look forward to, for sure.”
Ings has never lost his optimism despite two major knee injuries in three years, setbacks that shattered his hopes of becoming and England regular and wrecked his time at Liverpool .
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His initial 12-month loan will be turned into a £20million move in the summer - a deal already looking like yet another bargain for the south coast club.
He is back at the club that rejected him as a ten-year-old for being too small. A decision that saw him play instead for the Sunday league team run by his dad.
“Obviously being rejected hurt.” he said. “But I was that young I just wanted to enjoy my football. So my dad was my manager for a few years.
“Playing for his team I got battered! I really did. I remember playing one team and one of their players, who we actually signed the season after, told me that the manager had offered twenty quid for anyone that took me out of the game.
“I came off that pitch with a bleeding nose and cuts down my legs. But its all part of the game! That’s the tame version.”
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Ings’ work to provide football coaching to children with disabilities and learning difficulties is well documented following his *meeting with young disabled Burnley fan Joe Skinner.
It is his investment in himself, however, that has left him in the mental shape to become an asset for his boyhood club.
“Even when I wasn’t playing at Liverpool I was still analysing games from the bench. I think that stood me in good stead coming here.
“The tactics are getting stronger every season. Teams are getting harder to beat. If you don’t watch and try to take things from *people’s games you will never improve.”
Then there is the emotional investment.
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“I had a psychologist I was working with up north, away from the club. He helped me a lot in terms of handling things. But the most important thing was my family on the end of a phone. Surrounding yourself with people like that who want the best for you is vital. They keep your mind strong.”
Yet Ings’ most significant influence is Dad Shayne without whose guidance he would not have developed the fight he now has when the going gets tough.
“Any dad who has that bond with his son and loves football just as much will know what I’m talking about. He is - and was - my biggest inspiration.
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“We used to live right next to the recreation ground and he’d take me out every night, without fail.
“He’d set me little targets and we’d be out there for hours until I did it - because I never used to want to go in until I did it.
“I’d get stressed out and have tantrums but it was all worth it because it kept me focused and I only wanted one thing in life - to play football.
“So to be sat here today, I owe him everything. He is a great man. “Everyone who knows him knows that.”
