FORMER QPR hero Dan Shittu has admitted he blagged his way into the professional game.

The Nigerian man mountain, who made 159 league appearances for the Super Hoops after signing from Charlton for £350,000 in 2002, was on the verge of heading to University in north London when he performed one last desperate last throw of the dice in a bid to fulfill his dream of becoming a professional footballer.

"When I was 17 I remember sitting in my living room and I wrote a letter begging for a trial and sent it off to 20 clubs," explained the 27-year-old.

"I told them I was big, fast and strong. But they all said no and rejected me. I've still got five or six of the letters.

"I wasn't going to give up so I picked up the first letter, which was was from Charlton, and gave them a call.

"I managed to somehow get through to the Academy director and begged him on the phone for 20 minutes to give me a trial. I'm surprised he didn't put the phone down on me. I told him to call my agent.

He continued: "Obviously, I never had an agent at that point so I got one of my friends to pretend to be my agent. He ended up calling my friend and he told them that a few clubs wanted me. He let me come in for a trial and I was there for six weeks.

"A lot of people still thought I was wasting my time as I was pretty raw back then. So to get to where I am now I see it as a big achievement."