'Christmas mad' Doncaster Rovers midfielder Adam Clayton happy to get back to what Festive season is all about

"We love it in our house," says the 33-year-old Doncaster Rovers midfielder. "It'll be matching 'jamas and all sorts, especially now I've got a daughter.

"I grew up with two brothers and my dad made Christmas a really special time so hopefully I can make it the same for my daughter and I've got a baby on the way in February. It's brought it all back to where I was as a child."

So the former Leeds United, Huddersfield Town and Middlesbrough midfielder is honest enough to admit he enjoyed not having to head to training or a match last Christmas Day after being released by Birmingham City, but he hopes it is a few years yet before he experiences another "normal" 25th.

This year he will be getting ready for a Boxing Day League Two game at Tranmere Rovers.

"For me football is Christmas, Christmas is football," he says. "If you're not playing it, you're watching it, it's what families like to do in Christmas week.

"The mood around the stadium is always brilliant because everyone's happy and a little bit more upbeat. You can feel that on the pitch and when you win on a Boxing Day, it's one of the best games of the season.

"I was probably in a good place last Christmas because I'd been training with the under-23s at Birmingham. I was nowhere near the picture but I was travelling two-and-a-half hours to get to work.

"It was early November when I finished at Birmingham so Christmas probably came at a good time and it was probably a case of, 'I've had Christmas now, I want to get back in.'

"I want to be involved in Christmas as a player again and I might get another one in five or six years."After so long on the football treadmill, a couple of months out of work refreshed Clayton ahead of joining Doncaster in January.

"I managed to get away on holiday with my wife and my little girl," he recalls. "Travelling up to Birmingham to train with the under-23s wasn't the easiest mentally or physically with a lot of driving and not really getting me anywhere.

"Them couple of months really did come at a good time, refreshing me completely. I am where I am now probably because of that."