Fleetwood Town boss Joey Barton will arrive at the City Ground for this evening's Carabao Cup clash still feeling that he has a point to prove to Nottingham Forest .
As a 14-year-old, Barton was handed a trial with the Reds following his release from Liverpool.
The former England midfielder was considered a great talent in his youth after turning out for both the blue and red halves of Merseyside.
But after a short trial with Forest he was told by the club that he was too small to become a professional footballer.
And instead, ahead of the following season, he joined Manchester City, a club where he would go on to make 153 appearances.
"Forest regarded me as too small and that I wasn't good enough," Barton told Sky Sports in 2007.
"I didn't see that. The rejection hurt a lot, but my mum said to me 'Don't let anyone bring you down'.
"So I got my head down; I just wouldn't give up."
Stints with Newcastle, QPR, Marseille, Burnley and Rangers would follow before Barton hung up his boots in 2017.
Now in charge of Fleetwood Town, he remains a controversial character in English Football and should he pull off a Carabao Cup upset this evening on Trentside, he will certainly feel that he has got one over on the club who turned him down.
