Tottenham winger Gareth Bale has played down his personal success this season.
The Welsh winger has been a sensation this term with his performances earning the Player of the Year award from his fellow professionals, but Bale insists he is staying at White Hart Lane.
And far from allowing himself to be carried away by the hype around him, the 21-year-old told the Hotspur magazine: "I have not always been the most confident of people, particularly as a schoolboy, so I needed my parents to keep telling me to believe that I was better than I actually thought I was myself.
"I'm still the same now. I don't think that I'm as good a player as people say I am.
"That's what keeps me working hard - because I want to be the player that others say I am.
"When I first joined Spurs, it was hard for me when I was not playing, although I actually felt confident that I would show what I could do if I could get into the side. It was the same when I had a bad injury and couldn't get back in.
"Then suddenly it took off. I went from strength to strength, because now I was playing regularly and not just training.
"I wasn't even in the squad for a good while, but it all went right when I had a run in the side. My confidence grew with each and every one of those games and there's no doubt that you learn more from playing than training, and you get better with every experience."
