Romaine Sawyers is driven to succeed in football in order to repay his mum, Diane, back for all the sacrifices she made for him as a child.

The Brentford man has been one of the standout performers in the Championship in recent weeks, being nominated for player of the month in December.

And he admitted he wouldn't be where he was in the game if it wasn't for the support he received from his family.

When asked about who inspired him as a youngster, Sawyers replied: “My Mum. She's a strong person. She would do it all over again if she had to.

“Seeing the strength from her and I feel I need to pay her back. She made sacrifices for me and my brother (Nathaniel). I'm doing all I can to pay them back.

“If she's at the game, I feel I've got to do something right or I'm going to get it for the rest of the night.”

Sawyers is passionate about his community work and has done plenty of voluntary work with Kick It Out.

And he believes that providing some encouragement to a youngster, especially from someone privileged to be a professional footballer, can inspire them to improve, be it in the game or in their own lives.

He said: “I remember being that young boy wanting to play football and if a professional spoke to me it'd brighten my day, week, month.

“I have that position and the platform to make a difference but that bit of encouragement and having a kid smile can stem that way in terms of education.”

Romaine Sawyers

He added: “There's a Saturday and Sunday league team and they have a lot of kits from last season with boots from myself or team-mates.

“Any donation I can do, it doesn't have to be financial, as that's when people want credit that's not due as they just want to give money.

“Being there in the flesh is more important. I don't want to do it just so people turn around and say he's a good charitable guy.

“I try to get to their games as much as possible. Being around kids is good when they look at you and then they see you on FIFA. It brightens their day.”

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