There will be some Aston Villa fans who maybe aren’t aware of the rise of Tyrone Mings through the football tiers, but it’s fair to say the 26-year-old certainly didn’t have it all go his way during his career so far.
Most will certainly be aware of the injuries he suffered when making the step up from Ipswich Town to Bournemouth, and we all know his impressive displays for us as we went on a record-breaking run of wins to propel us towards Play-Off promotion last season from the Championship, and his step up to the Premier League has been rapid – earning his maiden international call for England last week.
One element of the story I wasn’t aware of was that he was released by Southampton’s Academy setup during his development days, and the potential for making his England bow at St Mary’s Stadium when England face Kosovo on Tuesday, certainly hadn’t passed him by.
Speaking to the BBC with Gareth Southgate’s squad gearing up for Bulgaria at Wembley this weekend, Mings said of his possible Southampton return.
“I have thought about it. There is not a lot I haven’t thought of in terms of what could and couldn’t happen. I don’t hold any grudges over Southampton. I don’t hold any grudges over the decisions they made because if I’m completely honest they were probably justified at the time. I wasn’t quite big enough, I wasn’t quite physically developed enough to maybe cope with the demands of the game. It will be a fitting story if I made my debut at St Mary’s and came full circle.”
Given his attitude and commitment, I think most would agree that balancing what has to have been a massive low in his career with a massive high, would make it a bit more special for him if he gets the nod for the game, even if Mings doesn’t quite see it like that himself.
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