James Garner has praised both the Championship and the Manchester United academy for helping him to develop as a player.
Garner has been on loan at Nottingham Forest this season and has earned plenty of plaudits for his performances at the City Ground. Notable displays came during Forest's victories over Arsenal and Leicester City in their FA Cup run.
The 21-year-old has made 38 appearances this season for the East Midlands club and has gone from strength to strength in the second tier. His performances on the pitch led to the Englishman being called up to his country's U21 squad for their qualification match with Andorra last week.
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Speaking in the official England matchday programme, Garner was thankful for his spell in the Championship. He explained: "I think it's helped me massively.
"I don't think I would be where I am at this stage right now if I was still playing with U23s back at United. It has helped me massively to develop as a player. It's developed a whole different side of my game which I didn't think I needed if that makes sense.
"The Championship is a hard, hard league, it's aggressive and you've got to have all the basic fundamentals before you can then bring out your talent. It's important and it's helped me massively."
Despite praising Forest, Garner added how important United has been in his life both on and off the pitch. "It has helped me massively in terms of where I am today," he continued when asked about the United academy. "They don't just help you on the pitch, they help you off the pitch as well, how to be a good human being, which is the most important thing.
"Like I said, I wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for the academy system, I'm so grateful. A couple of years ago I was very fortunate to play a couple of games in the Europa League and I took a lot of things from it.
"Playing away from home in Belgrade, which was one of the craziest atmospheres I've ever played in. Just playing in games like that and playing with really top high-profile players.
"It's a lot to take in. I feel like I am better off for it."
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