Brentford striker Ivan Toney opens up on gambling addiction for first time since eight-month ban

Ivan Toney has opened up on his gambling addiction for the first time since being hit by an eight-month ban from football for betting breaches.

The Brentford striker is out until January after accepting most of the 262 breaches he was charged with by the FA.

Speaking on the Diary of a CEO podcast, Toney said he started having a "little flutter" in gambling when he was 15, and the more he earned "the higher the stakes were".

Toney said: "The impact it (betting) would have is waiting for payday. I would pay for everything I need to sort and then I would be like, ‘I have got this much to play with’.

"I took care of what needed to be taken care of, then in my head it is like, ‘My money is my money and I can spend it how I want’."

Toney said he felt it was a "grey area" in terms of what he knew he could and could not bet on, and hit out at the way his case was handled.

He was on the brink of a call-up to the England squad for the World Cup when the news broke in November, several months before he was actually banned.

Toney said: "Personally, I feel it was a bit of a questionable time when they decided to bring it all out, and then when they actually dealt with the situation at the end of the season, I felt like, ‘Why did you bring it out then?’

"The biggest punishment was missing out on the World Cup. I felt more hurt and down around the time, like someone was out to get me at the time to stop me playing for England."