Rickie Lambert may tire of the fascination with his work with beetroot, but his personal journey from the factory where he screwed lids on jars to playing for England at the World Cup will inspire a generation of rejected footballers to fight back. He is the 21st-century standard- bearer for the rise from part-time football to the very top of the professional game. This season, at Liverpool, he will venture into the Champions League as others try to emulate his progress. Among them are three English strikers who, like Lambert, arrive in the Barclays Premier League via promotion, rather than because top-flight clubs took a chance on some of the unsung talent in the lower leagues.
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Charlie Austin, Danny Ings and Jamie Vardy have arrived in the Premier League after playing non-League football
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Rickie Lambert took a similar route before completing a move to Liverpool
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Manager Danny Wilson took a chance on QPR striker Austin at Swindon
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Burnley bought Austin for £1m before selling and replacing him with Ings
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Vardy was signed by Halifax after being released by Sheffield  Wednesday
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Vardy was at Fleetwood before joining Championship winners Leicester
@placeholder scored 34 goals in 40 games for lower league side Fleetwood
At 27, Vardy is the eldest of the trio, but @placeholder was 30 on his Premier League debut and a year older when winning his first cap.