JAMES HILL knows he can tackle anything after coming through Joey Barton’s “relentless” summer boot camps unscathed.
So the call-up he received from will not faze the Bournemouth defender.
The 24-year-old has come a long way since he was given his big break by one of football’s bad boys — currently in prison on remand charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent — at when he was just 16.
And he still shudders when he looks back on Barton’s tortuous ‘Gaffer’s Day’ in when players spent the day running.
He recalled: “Honestly it was relentless. There were lads almost passing out — they were white, like ghosts, in the face. People were carrying objects and doing full laps of the complex.
“You had to do what the boss told you. The mindset was no matter how hard it gets, we can get through it.”
On other occasions, young Hill had to walk over to train with the Under-18s if he misplaced a pass during one of the drills.
Yet Barton’s tough love on the Fylde Coast paid off with Hill admitting: “The standards he set in training are what started me off. I learned a lot from him.”
As a trainee with the Cod Army, he would have to clean Barton’s boots after training as well as those of the club captain.
But as the son of former Preston and defender Matt he knew all about what was expected from young players.
He had his fair share of knock-backs too and was released from Bolton and had unsuccessful trials with various other clubs.
While in Fleetwood’s academy , he even attended a Talent Transfer workshop to explore what other options were out there if his career did not take off.
But at that time, Barton already had great faith in him and soon made him the club’s youngest player. He later gave him a full debut against , another of his father’s old clubs.
Seven years on, he could become the second former Fleetwood player to play for England after .
Hill spent four-and-a-half years learning his trade at Town before signing for the Cherries in January 2022 for a fee of around £1million.
Even then, he had work to do to show he was ready to play at the top level and was sent out on loan to a year later.
The following season he spent a “valuable” four months with Blackburn in the .
It was then he realised he had what it takes to play on the biggest stage, notably when Rovers went to for a game in November 2023.
Up against the likes of , and Enzo Fernandez he did not feel overawed.
Looking back at that night, he said: “I didn’t get man of the match but my rating was quite high and I felt like I’d had a really comfortable game.
“I realised that this is the level I belong at.”
Boss clearly agreed as he was recalled to the Vitality in January 2024 and has not looked back.
Now a regular for the first team and thriving under new gaffer Marco Rose, his international call-up has capped an incredible few months for the centre-back.
He married partner Tara in the summer with the couple welcoming their daughter Edie in August.
