Small left Everton's youth set-up aged 17, signing for Southampton, but never played for them. He then had spells on loan at Port Vale and St Mirren before joining Charlton in 2024 where he made 62 appearances.

"Its not been an easy journey for me so far. It's still very early on in my career. I've always been resilient, I've always looked to work hard, get my head down and do all the right things," he said.

"I'm just happy that my hard work is paying off and for me it's not getting carried away and doing all the things that got me to this point."

Small's fine form has been rewarded with a call-up to the England Under-21 squad to play away in Moldova and at home to Andorra.

"I love it. The standard of players is incredible. You're playing with Premier League players, its always good to challenge myself," he said.

"Sometimes you see the senior players which is really motivating."