Brighton striker Glenn Murray believes the start of his career playing non-league football in Cumbria has helped him to become the player he is today.

Former Carlisle United and Barrow man Murray, from Maryport, started his senior career with Workington Reds.

The 35-year-old is now in the form of his life with the Seagulls in the Premier League, having scored five goals this season.

He admits, though, that starting outside the professional game proved to be a life-changing experience.

Speaking on BBC Football Focus on Non-League Day on Saturday at Lewes FC, he said: "The lowest point in my non-league career came when I was a teenage substitute for Workington Reds in a game at Blyth Spartans, and some kids started throwing eggs at me and the other subs when we were warming up.

"My life now in the Premier League, where we get treated ridiculously well as players, feels like I am in a different universe.

"But I would not be here playing for Brighton at the age of 35 if it was not for those days I spent outside the Football League at the start of my career with Netherhall, Workington, Carlisle and Barrow.

"They did not just act as a springboard for my career, they helped me rediscover my love for a game that I had become so sick of as a teenager that I almost quit for good."

Murray’s first stint at Carlisle United came as a youth player but he admitted “I hated football” when he left at the end of his first Brunton Park stint at 16, having played as a left-back!

"I had a really technically minded coach and I wasn’t really much of a technical player," he explained.

"So, that was me out of the picture and, instead of being up front, I played at left-back in my final few months at the club."