Ask Alex Addai if he’s living the dream with Cheltenham Town and he’ll say “definitely” without a moment’s hesitation.

And it’s not difficult to see why because the one-time Spurs academy player was out of full-time football for some five years after leaving Blackpool, for whom he never played a first-team game, in 2013.

He played for a whole collection of non-League clubs, including Grays Athletic, Kingstonian and most recently Merstham before Cheltenham offered him a route back into the Football League a couple of summers ago.

The 26-year-old attacker joined Cheltenham for the start of the 2018/19 season since when he has established himself as an important member of their first-team squad, even though he was 24 when he made his Football League debut.

Born in Stepney in the East End of London – he’s an Arsenal fan despite his Tottenham connections - he was working as a behaviour support manager at a school in Peckham before heading west to glorious Gloucestershire just over 18 months ago.

And although he has only been back in the full-time game for less than two years, the fans’ favourite, who is well liked by everyone at the club certainly doesn’t regret the way his life has panned out.

“I think I’m better off for it,” he said, “and I’m so happy now. I learned a lot when I wasn’t playing full-time. I wasn’t in a bubble, I had to cook my own food, I had to wash my own kit.

“I had to earn respect and get a job and I think that will stand me in good stead when I stop playing football.”

It certainly should. While obviously good at football, Addai has a winning personality, one that makes him easy to interview, and he has a ready laugh.

But while he’s good fun to talk to, he’s very serious about his football.

“Yes, I am,” he said. “I’ve learned so much since I joined the club - different demands, different styles of play.

“I was out of the professional game for so long and I used to train just on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“Now I train every day and it took a bit of time for my body to adapt but everybody understood my circumstances. It’s been a massive learning curve; I’ve never had to do so much defending!

“But I like to think I’ve bought into what they’re trying to do.”

The evidence would suggest that that is very much the case even though a red card for an altercation with a Northampton Town player at the back end of last year – and the subsequent three-game ban – set him back a bit.

“That won’t happen again,” insisted Addai, “I’ve learned my lesson.”

Learning from past mistakes is part and parcel of football, of course, and Cheltenham fans will want to see Addai at his blistering best over the final couple of months of the season.

So how would Addai describe himself as a player?

“My whole life I’d seen myself as a wide player,” he said. “But since I’ve come to the club, I’ve thought of myself more as a striker, that’s where I think I perform.

“I make runs in behind and get into 1 v 1 situations. I’m a ball carrier and I like to take people on, I’m quick.”

He certainly is and ask him if he is the quickest at the club he laughs before saying: “I think so over short distances, although not over long distance!”

He’s clearly enjoying life at Cheltenham Town.

“I love it here,” he said. “Since I walked through the door everyone has made me feel welcome from the people on the door, the kitchen staff, the media team, the players, supporters and manager.”

It also helps Addai that Cheltenham like to play the ball on the floor because at 5ft 5in it’s fair to say he’s not the tallest.

“We do play really nice football,” said Addai. “It’s credit to the manager and the players that we play the style that we do.”

Addai has played his part, of course, and although predominantly right footed, he is confident enough to take players on both sides and has enjoyed considerable success.

And he is confident that success is just around the corner for Cheltenham Town too.

“If we don’t make the play-offs that would be a massive disappointment,” said Addai. “Going up automatically is the aim. We’re all very level-headed and we’re quietly confident we can at least make the play-offs.”

That would be some achievement for Michael Duff in what is his first full season with the club, especially when you consider how close to the bottom of League Two, they were when he arrived soon after the start of the last campaign.

It would also represent a tremendous turnaround for Addai who has known real tough times in football after being released by Spurs at the age of 16.

“I’d been there for four years and when they let me go it seemed like the end of the world,” he said.

“I didn’t see how I could get out of it; I didn’t know what would happen next.

“But it’s made me the person I am today. You’ve got to take the disappointment and bounce back, I wanted to prove what I could do.”

One of the players he played alongside during his time at Spurs was a certain Harry Kane, who has gone to enjoy a great career not only with the club but also his country.

Addai remembers those days well.

“He was a year older than me, but the two-year groups would play together,” he said.

“He didn’t really stand out, but he was obviously a good player,” before adding with a laugh, “but he wasn’t as quick as me!”