When Ben Chilwell lines up alongside England's World Cup heroes at the Nations League Finals in Portugal this week it will be his rewards for 12 months of impressive progress where putting in extra toil paid off.
Chilwell counted himself among a nation of enraptured supporters last year, when Gareth Southgate guided the Three Lions to their first major tournament semi-final for 28 years at Russia 2018.
The 22-year-old Leicester City left-back was also reflecting upon a 2017-18 campaign where "I had good games but I had some bad games as well" and endeavoured to do something about it – enlisting the help of his father Wayne in a no-frills close-season training regime.