West Ham United striker Carlton Cole admits it was relief when he was able to leave former club Chelsea.
Cole comes up against Chelsea and former teammate John Terry this weekend.
He told the London Evening Standards: "I had good days at Chelsea but not that many. My future is at West Ham now and I want to put one over Chelsea because this is my club. Everything happens for a reason. I always knew that, once I got games under my belt, I would learn and progress.
"I'm at a happy place now but when I was there, I wasn't that happy. I wasn't maturing there and I was seen as the little boy. It can be hard when you come through the ranks at a club, although JT has handled it all well.
"He came through the Academy there and has gone on to be a top England defender. For me, it was never as easy and I had to leave, to put down roots somewhere else.
"I would train well all week and know I wasn't even going to be on the bench at the weekend. There were so many stars there it was hard for me to make an impact.
"I was always going out on loan and I didn't want to do that. When I finally left it was a relief really, a weight off my shoulders, because I could go somewhere else and push on."