A biography for Darren Benthasn’t been written yet.
“When I left London and my parents split up it crushed me, to be honest. It was really, really hard for me. I remember crying and crying for ages. Leaving my friends behind and not being able to see my dad every day was horrible.”
“You work so hard when you are young just to get to be a footballer, so when you make it you shouldn't complain.”
“Your anger, frustration and your hurt - you have to try to put that all behind you and move on.”
“There will be a real admiration for Paul Pogba amongst other players in the Premier League, from the players who have played against him.”
“You don't get everything your own way when you are a professional footballer, and neither should you expect to.”
“I can't stand spiders. They are so creepy.”
“Aston Villa is a massive club and I always want to play for huge clubs.”
“The game is all about dealing with challenges and that is what I try to do.”
“A footballer's life can be a bit lonely at times but you have to keep going.”
“All strikers go through periods when you score goals and don't score goals.”
“I played a lot with Kenwyne Jones and I felt he brought the best out of me.”
“I don't hate animals or anything - I used to have a pet snake as a child.”
“Aurier, he's powerful, but he's often left wanting. He'll break forward and leave that right side exposed, a lot of the time the right centre-half is one-v-one with the wide man.”
“My grandma has got me into my religion because she used to carry me to church every Sunday.”
“I'm a big fan of Kane and he's one of those strikers where every time they get the ball around the box you're thinking it's a goal.”
“At Ipswich it was just the start of my career, then when I moved to Charlton I was given the No.10.”
“Potentially Kane could be the best but if you're looking at the full package, holding the ball up, bringing others into play, technique... you can't beat Rooney.”
“Any trainer I've wanted to get I've managed to get. Even if they are one of six, I've managed to pick them up somehow.”
“After the World Cup in Germany, I made a promise to myself to make sure I was on the plane for the next one. So I tried as hard as I could to get there, but it didn't happen.”
“I don't know any player with ambition who wants to sit there, week in week out, and not play.”