THE tattoo on Danny Ings’ lower left arm sums up the attitude Burnley have taken in to this Premier League season.

‘The difference between the impossible and possible lies in the man’s determination’, is the quote that winds its way around his arm.

MORE TOP STORIES:

It is one of many tattoos that adorn the body of the Clarets’ England Under 21 hotshot, but it is a statement that fits the mentality the Burnley squad and staff have taken into this season as they attempt to prove the doubters wrong.

Ings admits most of the tattoos are simply stylish works of art, but the one that means the most to him is the one on his right side of his chest.

It depicts a young Danny walking under an archway with his dad Shane, clinging on to his father with one hand and clutching a football with the other, a familiar scenario in the Ings household as he grew up in the medieval village of Netley Abbey, near Southampton.

“He used to take me out every day and that is why I put it on my body,” Ings said of his father’s influence on his football career.

“There were no toys or games when I was younger, just a football and for that I’m entirely grateful for everything he did because I wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for him.

“Whenever I was having bad spells, which you do when you’re a young lad, you want to do things that you shouldn’t but he pushed me in the right direction and just told me what was needed to be done to get to where I am today.

"He still does. He will ring me after the game and tell me I didn’t do well enough. It’s just the way he is and it is a big part of my success as a footballer.”

After being released from Southampton’s development centre at the age of 10 Ings started playing Sunday league football for his the team his dad managed, Itchen Tyro.

He then went to Bournemouth on a scholarship but his dreams of a professional career almost ended in what he still describes as the most nerve wracking few weeks of his life.

“I wasn’t the brightest in school and Bournemouth said to me that you need Cs to get the scholarship at Brockenhurst College.

“I was really panicking,” he said. “There were times I was crying to my dad saying ‘what am I going to do?’ because I made football my life and he made sure of that.

“So that time was a little bit shaky but as soon as I got the scholarship I just thought this is what I want to do and I thought I will do everything I can to stay in football and have a career.”

It is a career that is really starting to take off. In the last month Ings has scored his first Premier League goal, got two for England U21s at his home ground, and scored two match-winning goals at the Britannia Stadium.

It is a spell he described as the best in his life, and it is hard to believe that it has come exactly four years since he was spending October and November on loan at Dorchester Town in the Conference South.

“It was probably the most important spell,” Ings said of his time at Dorchester. “I got kicked around a lot. I was young and it helped me mature as a man and a footballer.

“It was one of the most positive things in my career. I really enjoyed it. They were a great set of lads, a great staff and really helped me.

“It was definitely the right decision by Eddie Howe to send me out on loan back then. “I needed to develop as a man. It’s different in the youth team. It’s not as tough football so it was important I was coming up against men every week to test myself.”

Since then Ings’ career has developed apace.

This week he launched the Danny Ings Disability Project in Burnley, and he sees it as his way of paying the town back for the support he has received.

“This is my fourth season here now. I had serious injuries at the beginning of it but the fans and the club stuck by me and helped me with everything I needed to do,” he said.

“In a way it’s paying them back as well for their dedication towards me.”

Ings is putting his own time and money into the project, and while some may consider him changing perceptions of your average footballer, it is not something that he agrees with.

“People will also look towards the bad things, will always tweet the bad things or any social media,” he said.

“They don’t tend to find the good things footballers do. I know a lot of footballers who are great guys and who do things I want to do.

“You can’t tar everyone with the same brush. I guess some players don’t do themselves any favours but there are some great guys out there and they don’t deserve it.”