Thornton makes sober assessment of his prospects

English League Cup quarter-finals preview Doncaster Rovers v Arsenal Belle Vue, kick-off 7.45: Six weeks have passed since Sean Thornton stopped drinking, started shedding more than a stone and got serious about football again, but his reputation as a "wasted talent" lingers.

A stellar performance against Arsenal tonight might not erase such an unflattering label but it would represent a significant step towards rehabilitation for the gifted Doncaster Rovers midfielder.

"I feel confident about Arsenal," insisted the bottle-blond, diamond-earringed, silver-booted Irishman, who became Doncaster's record £175,000 signing when Sunderland discarded him last summer. "I believe I can play at the top level and want to get back there."

Man of the match when Dave Penney's promotion-pushing League One side trounced a full-strength Aston Villa in the last round, Thornton reprised the form which earned him Sunderland's player of the season award as they were relegated from the Premiership in 2002-03.

The 22-year-old's passion for nocturnal socialising was more akin to the lifestyle of a hedonistic student than that of a professional athlete. "I knocked alcohol on the head not because I needed a drink but to give my football every chance," explained Thornton. "And since stopping I've become a different, definitely much nicer, person.

"My eating and sleeping habits are better and I'm a better family man. Friends who know how much I liked a night out are shocked, but it's helped that I've got a little six-month-old baby boy, Leon, who has removed that boredom thing where you feel you've got to go out. I also quit drinking because, football-wise, I was fed up and unhappy. I realised that if I don't do something this year, if I just slacken, I won't be able to get away from League One."

One of Thornton's harshest critics was Mick McCarthy, who rarely saw eye to eye with a flashy extrovert he perhaps unfairly perceived as a "show pony", bigger on tricks than tracking back. "Howard Wilkinson (McCarthy's Sunderland predecessor) is my favourite manager," said Thornton. "He was very good for me as a person and a footballer, but there were things between me and Mick."

There is no such frostiness towards his old club, even if he is pessimistic about their prospects this season. "Sunderland are in my heart and I'd love to play for them again, but I'm not surprised at how badly they're doing," he admitted. "McCarthy went for quantity of signings (12) rather than quality in the summer and, when you look at his team now, you can't see where they'll get a win. I don't think there's anybody in Sunderland's midfield who can pull the strings or make things happen."

Happily, Thornton finds Penney more impressive. "It's stricter at Doncaster; at Sunderland McCarthy would say his piece but then it would be forgotten. Dave Penney comes down on you like a ton of bricks, though; it means I can't slip up, can't get away with anything.

"Football wise, the gaffer is great; he just tells me to get on the ball and play and wants everything to go through me. I see Doncaster as a stepping stone, but I've still got a lot to prove and hopefully I'll be playing in the Championship here next season."

Such measured ambition hardly squares with the reprobate "Irish enigma", something that Thornton insists is a north-eastern urban myth. "I've never been in a fight or locked up, and I swear, on my baby's life, I've never burnt money but, maybe because of my hair and clothes, stories used to circulate about me lighting £50 notes in clubs and McCarthy used to say, 'What's all this about?'

"I still go out, but people can't talk about me now because I leave after a couple of hours - and feel great the next morning."

Guardian Service