Calum Chambers says that being left out of Southampton's squad during the 2012/13 season gave him the spur he needed to reach the top.
The teenager had featured regularly in pre-season that year but was restricted to one appearance during the campaign, as a late substitute in a League Cup win at Stevenage.
Chambers did become a first-team regular the following season after pushing himself "to his limit".
"That season for me was tough. I had to go for it and give 100 per cent just to get there again during the next season"
"A few years ago at Southampton, I went away with the first team on the pre-season tour and I thought I did well there," he told Arsenal Player. "I played a few games, came back and played a few more.
"Then it got to the season and I was left out. It was devastating for me because you get so close to being a part of it and then you get put back down to the under-21s.
"That season for me was tough. I had to go for it and give 100 per cent just to get there again during the next season.
"I worked hard during the season. I got involved in one cup game and then the next season I got my chance in pre-season again.
"I made sure I did everything right, played as hard as I could to make sure that couldn't happen to me again."
Copyright 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
