Newcastle United signing Demba Ba says he will continue to work hard to improve his game so he can keep proving the doubters wrong.
The 26-year old Senegalese striker has taken a while to reach the top but now he is here he is planning to stick around for a while.
When he was younger, Ba had trials with Watford, Barnsley, Swansea City, Lyon and Auxerre before finally joinin French club FC Rouen back in 2005.
Since then it has been a steady climb with a move to Belgian outfit Mouscron and then onto German club 1899 Hoffenheim where he really made a name for himself.
An English Premier League shift then occurred with an impressive six-month stint with West Ham United and now he has made the move up North to Newcastle, he is looking to kick on yet again.
"My best quality is that mentally I am very strong. If you are a good, strong player you can thrive on pressure and expectation and rise to the challenge. Football is all about having fun. I will always be happy on a football pitch," he told the Daily Mirror.
"When I was young and looking for a club, I went to Watford for a couple of months and I learned a hell of a lot. I hoped to get a contract, but it didn't work out. I was upset but I didn't give up. I had always wanted to play in English football.
"I went to Swansea and Barnsley, looking again. I tried to make those clubs take me but they didn't and, after a few months, I had to go back to France. But I never gave up.
"It helps that I have had to work hard to get where I am now at this great club. I have had setbacks. Everything happens in life for a reason, good and bad.
"It has worked out well for me to think I was turned down by Swansea and Barnsley and am now at a club as big as Newcastle."
