Tottenham Hotspur winger Andros Townsend reaping benefits of a patient start at White Hart Lane "Before this, I think I'd missed one game of football since I turned professional," he says. So it was a new experience to deal with. But what I've found in my career is that you learn from new experiences. It's not the injury that counts: it's how you deal with it. Townsend is talking at Capital City Academy in Willesden, north-west London, where he is opening a new artificial football pitch, installed thanks to a grant from the Football Foundation. As he strolls across the beautifully yielding surface, a sizeable gaggle of pupils has gathered at the fringe of the pitch to watch him, giggling as he comes close. A year ago they would not have had a clue who he was. Now news of his arrival (he is late after a lengthy physio session at Spurs" training round) fizzes along the corridors of the magnificent Sir Norman Foster-designed school building. Pupils pour from the front door to get a glimpse, genuinely excited to have such a rising star in their midst. And he appears equally captivated by what he sees. "I was really impressed when I turned up and saw what they had," he says of the new, floodlit pitch. We had nothing like this at my school. It's fantastic for kids to come in and be able to play on something like this. It helps their development, whereas when I was at school we just had muddy pitches, loads of games got called off, you couldn't really play proper football, you had to kick it long because of the mud. This is fantastic for the kids, hopefully they will reap the reward. And reaping the reward is something at which Townsend is an expert. By inviting him along, Garth Crooks - one of the school's governors - made a shrewd call. Successful professional footballers are always likely to seize the attention of a young, urban audience. But when Crooks conducts a question-and-answer session between the VIP visitor and the students, it is evident Townsend represents something more: here is someone whose experience is applicable to all the pupils, wannabe footballers or not. This past year may have been one of sudden and vertiginous elevation for the winger, but it was preceded by several seasons of setback and disappointment. And the attitude he displayed in negotiating his way through that is an example to any young person, whatever path they might choose. "When you get a chance you have to seize it with both hands," he tells a student who asks him what career advice he would give. You might not get another. And Townsend had to be patient waiting for the chance that came last year. This is how long the evening was before his overnight success: from the age of 17, he was farmed out on loan by Spurs nine times. Some of those spells, like the one at QPR, were hugely beneficial. Others, like a brief sojourn in Leeds, were little short of miserable. But looking back, he believes it was an apprenticeship worth serving. "You always believe in your ability," he explains after the Q&A, as he sits in a class room overlooking the new pitch. You always think at the end of it you will reach the top. But you have to put in the hard yards. At a massive club like Tottenham opportunities will come, but not straight away. You have to get out there and prove that you deserve to have them coming your way. The only way that's going to happen is if people see you playing. That's what I did. Every opportunity I had I went out on loan. I put my skills to the test in League One, the Championship, then finally the Premier League. That's what you have to do. You have to go out there and prove it. It makes you. Now he has come through it, he is certain every youngster in Premier League academies should follow his route. Of course you have your exceptions, the Wayne Rooneys, the Adnan Januzaj who make their debuts young, but nowadays even the best don't get the chance to play in the Premier League until they're 20, 21. I'd advise everyone to go out on loan, play professional football matches, learn your trade. So when you get your chance at your parent club you're ready for it. Youth team football, development leagues are fantastic for learning the technical side of the game. But playing in League One, League Two, you learn the hard graft, the tackling, the running, the pinging it up to the big man, getting your foot in, doing whatever it takes to get three points. You learn how to play the game. It helps, too, if you have a mentor. Townsend was greatly assisted in his early days by Tim Sherwood, whose recent appointment as the first team coach at Tottenham the player lauds. "I worked with him for four or five years in the youth set up," he says. He was brought in to help the youngsters with their progress, help getting loan moves, that sort of thing. He's always been supportive of my abilities, always told me not to waver from what I do, to never change from trying to take people on and make things happen. In that way he's been a huge influence in my career. Hopefully now he's in charge I can start repaying his faith, break back into the Spurs team and start scoring goals for him. And he likes goals. He'd always rather win 5-4 than 1-0. I think that's the Tottenham way really. Sherwood, he recalls, was particularly encouraging when he returned from his spell at QPR last July, telling him this was his moment. "I went back to Spurs and started pre-season with my confidence at an all-time high," he recalls. Unfortunately for him, Aaron Lennon got injured and I had the opportunity. I was determined to use that chance to cement my place in the squad. I did more than I expected if I'm honest. So much more that he was handed an international debut by Roy Hodgson after no more than a handful of first team appearances. And what he found in the England camp only encouraged him further. Listen, when I made my debut the front four were Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge, Wayne Rooney and me. So we've got some good young players coming through, Jack Wilshire's another. It's not all doom and gloom and England are finished. I don't buy that at all. The future is bright for us. I want to make sure I'm part of it. His own future, too, appears pretty gilded. Though he appreciates that, now he has made it to the first team, he is faced with a further examination of his character and resolve: staying there. Yeah, now it's a different challenge. The expectation is there," he says. When you don't play well everyone's saying: what's happened to Andros? But listen, I come from a good family, I've got good people around me, if they see my form starting to dip, or my mind starting to wander, there'll be a boot up the backside. I'm confident I'll stay level headed. What you can't think is that you've made it. Not least because problems can turn up from the least controllable directions. Like injury. When you're a footballer you're disappointed when you're injured. But you have to take the positive in every negative. Yes, I was injured. But I take the positive, I had a hectic six months at the start of the season, it's given me the chance to reflect, recuperate, try and come back even stronger. So in short, at the end of his perfect year, Townsend has just enjoyed an unscheduled midwinter break. "Yeah, if you like," he smiles. You could take it one of two ways. You could be down in the dumps and mooch around. Or you can take the positive and look to come back stronger. Now I'm looking to the Man City game to come back better than I was. I'll be ready. Townsend's journey England winger Andros Townsend has spent loan periods at nine clubs since signing for Tottenham Hotspur as a junior. 1999: Joins Tottenham academy. 2008-09: Loan to Yeovil Town (League One, 10 apps 1 goal) 2009-10: Loan to Leyton Orient (League One, 26 apps 2 goals). Loan to MK Dons (League One, 9 apps 2 goals). 2010-11: Tottenham (1 app 1 goal). Loan to Ipswich Town (Championship, 16 apps 1 goal). Loan to Watford (Championship, 3 apps). Loan to Millwall (Championship, 11 apps 2 goals). 2011-12: Tottenham (7 apps 1 goal) Loan to Leeds United (Championship, 7 apps 1 goal). Loan to Birmingham City (Championship, 16 apps). 2012-13: Tottenham (10 apps 1 goal). Loan to QPR (Premier League 12 apps 2 goals). 2013-14: Tottenham (19 apps 2 goals). England (4 apps 1 goal).