Tyrone Mings has insisted that the fact he was released by Southampton makes him no more desperate to feature there for Town in Sunday’s FA Cup third round tie.

Mings was told just weeks before his 16th birthday in March 2009 that he would not be offered a scholarship and a few months later ended an association that had started when Saints first recruited him at the tender age of seven.

He said: “My previous history doesn’t bother me. I’m more keen to play because of the standard of opposition and that would apply to anyone in the Premiership. If the manager who was there when I was in the U16s, and played me down an age group, is there then I don’t think it would bother me.

“He made the decision at the time that he felt was right, that I shouldn’t be going forward into the U18s, but I think I have already proved him wrong because the people he did select are necessarily doing as well. It’s up to him to decide whether or not he made a mistake.”

Mings has admitted he was close to turning his back on football altogether in the summer of 2012, just months before he was offered a trial at Ipswich, when it took manager Mick McCarthy only a few minutes to decide he wanted to sign him.

He recalled: “I was travelling everywhere by public transport — to and from work in Bath and also to and from Yate, the club I was playing for at the time, for training and games. I thought to myself ‘There’s no way that I can do this for another year’. I couldn’t drive at the time and I couldn’t see the situation improving. I certainly couldn’t see me getting a break into the pro game.

“I lived with my dad and he was working at Chippenham. He told me to keep going and see what happened. Luckily, I passed my driving test the day before the season started at Yate so that motivated me to keep going. I knew it would make life easier if I was able to drive here and there. I continued and it proved to be a good decision.

“My first car? It was a Citroen Saxo, green with white wheels. I was 6ft 2ins at the time so it wasn’t the most comfortable of journeys as I drove to and from Bath every day and then to Yate for training sessions and games. I was a bit hunched up over the wheel.

“Going back to my release at Southampton, I knew it was coming for a while. Me and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain used to play down an age group — we were U16s but we played with the U15s — because we were both told we weren’t big enough.

“It looked as if Alex would be leaving as well but they decided to keep him on. Now we’re the only two who are still in the pro game, apart from Lloyd Isgrove, who is still there.

“It’s funny. I knew it was coming, that I wasn’t going to be offered a scholarship, so I was looking at other things, other avenues, and when I left I went to Millfield.

“I don’t know if Southampton’s decision spurred me on. I think what I did from there spurred me on more — going to Millfield and continuing my development. I played football every day there and my development there was quite remarkable.

“The difference between how I was physically when I went there and how I was when I left was quite frightening.

“When I left I was about 6ft 2ins or 6ft 3ins, yet when I went there I was only 5ft 10ins. I think that, coupled with working and playing non-league, gave me the motivation to get back into the game, more so than Southampton saying they weren’t going to give me a scholarship.”

Rumour has it that if Arsenal were to eventually sign Mings they would play him in a central defensive role but in which position does the 21-year-old see his future? He said: “I’d be happy to play centre-back but I’d be just as happy to play left-back.

“I think my attributes are my height and speed, which allow me to play anywhere along the back four. If that meant playing centre-back, who knows, but I’m enjoying playing left-back at the moment and I’m having relative success there.

“Plus, I’m not in any position to move, especially with the quality of centre-backs we have here at Ipswich.”

Meanwhile, Mings’s own experience in being released by Southampton puts him in an ideal position to advise any Town youngsters who find themselves in a similar situation.

He added: “I wouldn’t want to be regarded as too much of a mentor because I don’t think I have that much experience.

“If a lad had just been released and he wanted to know what to do next I wouldn’t necessarily say ‘Go and be a mortgage advisor’ because that’s what I was doing before coming to Ipswich. I would say there are other opportunities out there.

“It might take six months, it might take three years as it did in my case, but if you want it enough you have to keep going.”

Photo: Action Images

IamSpartacus added 09:32 - Jan 3 “He made the decision at the time that he felt was right, that I shouldn't be going forward into the U18s, but I think I have already proved him wrong because the people he did select are necessarily doing as well. It's up to him to decide whether or not he made a mistake."- should this have read "...I DON'T think I have proved him wrong..." Otherwise it doesn't make sense (unless he wasn't making sense when saying it! :-) I just get the impression that Mings is a modest and eloquent young guy, so saying he had proved him wrong doesn't appear his style. Regardless, I'd love to see him at Ipswich for the rest of his career, but know he is destined for greater things. The improvement over the last year or so have been immense. To think he hasn't even played 40 games in his career yet.... I honestly expect international honours if his improvement continues on this trajectory.

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pazelle added 12:37 - Jan 3 “It might take six months, it might take three years as it did in my case, but if you want it enough you have to keep g(r)o(w)ing.”
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