Tottenham winger David Bentley admits he had to get out of England for the sake of his career.

The 28-year-old, who has made 42 appearances in four years at Spurs and has not played for the club since November 2010, believes he has been unjustly portrayed as a troublemaker and is looking forward to doing his talking on the pitch on loan at FC Rostov.

He told the Daily Mirror: "I think there's a big stigma around me in England. The picture that Tottenham painted of me was so wrong.

"I've heard a lot of managers ringing players up and saying, 'I've heard he's trouble.' The players then tell me about it, but by then they had decided not to sign me.

"Someone had to be telling them that, because it's just not what I am like.

"It's time for a fresh start - get rid of those shackles and get away from England for a while to go to somewhere to be judged on what I can do on the pitch rather than something that's completely wrong about me."