Blackburn Rovers ace David Bentley admits a gambling habit almost wrecked his career.

"I loved it. I was 14 when I first started going to a betting shop. I got carried away with it," said Bentley, who began his career at Arsenal.

"As I started earning more money I really started getting heavily into it. You just get addicted.

"I was on everything, the horses, the dogs, online with poker, betting on bingo, all sorts. I was betting on everything.

"You could get a certain amount of money and then just blow it all. I'd wake up in the morning and the first thing I thought of was to have a bet instead of thinking about football.

"I don't know whether other people are like that but from my point of view that's what I get like. I got to the point where all I wanted to do was have a bet, I suppose you can't live like that. You get addicted to the whole thing, trying to pick a winner. It started out just by loving it but you can't help but get to the next level. In the end you risk losing it all.

"It depends how many races in a day. It could have been anything - 50 to 100. It was a joke. Anything I could bet on.

"The more you get up the table and the more money you earn...I didn't want it to get where I was left with nothing. It all starts off on pounds. Then it's hundreds and then it's thousands. It's never about winning £100, you want to win a hundred grand."

Bentley, who has won four England caps and came off the bench in the 1-0 defeat to France last month, has now broken the habit and believes that played a part in his rise to international football.

Bentley said: "You keep it quiet. You won't admit there's a problem. I never admitted it to myself. When my missus and my family used to ask 'why do you gamble?' I just said it wasn't a problem, just a bit of fun. When you take a step back and look at it you do see you have a big problem.

"It was difficult to stop doing it but luckily enough for me I got out of it.

"I'm sure it wasn't the only thing, but I'm sure it helped my concentration, your focus is completely on football. If you want to be top of the game you have to be addicted to football.

"I sat down with my girlfriend and she said you've got to stop. You just evaluate your life and I just thought to myself I'm going to have to stop. It was the hardest thing ever."