JAKE Buxton believes that Burton Albion’s players who have made the step up to the Championship have to work harder to establish themselves than players who have started at that level.
Buxton also feels that Burton Albion's battle to stay in the Championship is a good place for such players to start.
On-field captain Buxton made the move from playing non-league football with Burton Albion to Championship side Derby County in 2009, where he stayed until the summer of 2016.
Matty Lund and Jamie Allen are two players who have made the step-up, joining Burton Albion from League One Rochdale in the summer. Buxton feels that moving to a level like the Championship can be daunting and feels that players who move up a league have to work harder than players who started in the second-tier or above.
He said: “You have two options, you can either think that you have won the lottery by being given the chance to play at this level and you don’t believe that you are good enough or you can have that ball of fire inside you to prove all of those doubters wrong, that’s what drove me on.
“You have to work ten-times harder everyday than players who start in this division, you are an underdog and you have to prove yourself, rather than the lads who are stepping down from Manchester United or Liverpool because people automatically think that they are top players and doubt players from the lower divisions.
“That (playing in the Championship) is the opportunity that they have been given by signing for us and it is up to them to take that chance now.
"There is no better place to start than the dogfight at Burton Albion, it is a great opportunity for people.
“I was given that chance eight years ago and it is only you who can grasp it or be overawed by it. I can remember going to West Brom when I was at Derby and it was too much for me, I can remember playing against Jonathan Greening and thinking ‘wow, these are top players’ and I struggled that game, you can’t be like that.
“Games do make you better, and the more you go to these stadiums and play against these players, the better you become, but they have to grasp the opportunity to get in the side, train well, play well and when you do get the shirt, you have to keep it because I think at the end of their career, if they haven’t taken that chance they will be upset with themselves."