Why Norton-Cuffy is ready after long road to the Premier League

There is a story about Brooke Norton-Cuffy's time as a teenager on loan at Lincoln City under Michael Appleton that highlights his maturity. “It is one that Michael and I still speak about,” Rich O’Donnell, then Lincoln’s assistant coach, tells Sky Sports.

It involved John Marquis, a big, strong centre-forward with vast experience in English football's lower leagues and a dominant figure in any dressing room. Given that he was over a decade older than the young Norton-Cuffy, keeping quiet was the easy option.