The last few months have been a whirlwind for Ireland and Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter.

The 25-year-old former non-league footballer will be making his Premier League debut next season and also received his first Boys in Green call up in March.

A few years ago none of this seemed remotely possible as he told Off The Ball tonight.

In 2009 he was released by Charlton Athletic and had to fight his way out of non-league football before joining Bournemouth and eventually reaching the heights he has.

"As a young boy, it's not nice being told 'we don't want you anymore'. When you get released from somewhere like I did, to be given excuses, in the back of your mind the person doesn't rate you as highly as they need to. Going into the future I've looked at hard work is something that I can improve on and try and work as hard as I can to try and prove them wrong and I use that as a motivation to prove people wrong and I haven't looked back since," he said and adding the experience of regular football at non-league level as "enjoyable" and described his meeting with Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe as "almost like a job interview" as he found a kindred spirit in terms of his footballing philosophy.

Fast forward five years since joining the Cherries and the Ireland senior call-up became a reality and admitted his surprise that his the first taste of the international setup was for a competitive match against Poland rather than a friendly.

He also recalled the initiation song that he had to sing as a 'welcome' to the Ireland scene.

"They put it off all week and I was thinking that I had a chance of getting away with it and then the last night Robbie Keane put the chair out. I think I could play in front of any crowd of any size and I wouldn't get nervous. My heart and my knees were going. But I got up and sung Ed Sheeran's 'The A Team'. It was poor quality I must admit but once it got done, it was a massive relief," he said.