Ashley Young admits being threatened with having his leg broken as he prepared for his first team debut as a Watford teenager helped to steel him for life as a winger.
Young, who could start England's Euro 2012 qualifier with Montenegro on Tuesday, revealed that his legs are covered in scars from the punishment handed out by opponents throughout his career.
The Aston Villa player is a marked man and has often found teams doubling up on him to try and stop his pacey runs and deadly crossing.
But that first verbal altercation with former Wolves midfielder Kevin Muscat when he was just 18 helped to toughen up Young for the challenges ahead.
Young said: "As a winger, you get kicked all the time. I am one of those players who have many scars up and down their legs from being kicked.
"It is whether you have the character to get up again and say 'I am going to beat you' - or whether you crumble and don't want to play.
"I remember by first game for Watford. When I came on Kevin Muscat's first words to me were 'don't go past me or I will break your legs'.
"From that day the nerves left me and I concentrated on playing. I scored and I also didn't say anything to him at the end.
"When someone says that to you, when you are 18 and you are coming on for your first game, it is not the nicest thing to hear.
"You just have to get on with it. He just said it to wind me up. Whether you bite the bait and take it is down to each individual player.
"I don't think any player goes out to try and hurt their opponents."
