Newcastle United goalkeeper Rob Elliot won't give up his No1 status without a fight.

The Londoner insists his 'sudden' emergence due to an injury to Holland international Tim Krul has taken him eight years and included spells at Erith, Bishop's Stortford and ­Accrington Stanley.

He told the Sunday Mirror: "I have to pinch myself to believe.

"I'm now playing in the Premier League and Europa League. I've played in the lowest league in the non-league pyramid with Erith Town, when I was 17, and just worked my way up in stages.

"The ambition to play in the Premier League has always been there. But having been where I have, I probably relish it more.

"Some times you look around and appreciate the things you get, like travelling on a plane to Russia and playing against Samuel Eto'o, who has probably won everything there is to win apart from the World Cup.

"Now I just want to enjoy it. I don't want any regrets. I want to come away and say I did everything I could."