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Lee Tomlin says he's ready to play a key role in Neil Warnock's push to get Cardiff City back into the Premier League.

The maverick playmaker has struggled to make his mark in the Welsh capital, despite arriving under plenty of fanfare back in the summer of 2017.

Having been left out of last season's 25-man Premier League squad, Tomlin spent a chunk of last term out on loan to former club Peterborough United, and subsequently fell off the radar of many Bluebirds fans.

However, a picture uploaded the player's social media has once again got many of those same supporters talking, sparking questions over whether he could yet have something to offer boss Neil Warnock.

It is evidence of a new Tomlin, a man who insists he is now ready to shine. He has "no excuses" and what happens from here is "for me and my kids."

The 30-year old claims to have lost nearly two stone already this summer, and is determined to finally lay nagging concerns over his fitness, which were shared by Warnock and many others, to rest.

Tomlin explained: "I've tried to get my head down and get as fit as possible after speaking to the gaffer and I've done that. I'm in the best shape of my life.

"For me, the way I am, I never give up. I'll never give up."

There have understandably been questions over whether Tomlin still has a future at the Cardiff City Stadium given his 18-month absence from the first team set-up, but the player himself has categorically ruled out a move away this summer, while also dismissing any suggestions of a rift with Warnock.

"Just because it's not gone as planned, doesn't mean I want to move on straight away," he added. "I've not had any bad words with Warnock. I've never had an argument. Never done anything.

"People have this perception that if I left, it must mean I've fallen out with the manager. They couldn't be more wrong.

"I speak to him a lot. He helps me a lot, and he's got me back on track to the mentality I had as a kid and the one I had at Middlesbrough and Bournemouth. He's made me just want to play again, and do it at the highest level possible.

"He's literally been unbelievable to me. He's helped me off the pitch, on the pitch, told me what I could do better.

"Obviously, the main factor has been to get fit and like he's said to me before, if I'm fully fit I'm one of the best players in the Championship.

"The penny's dropped, and I just want to kick on. I'm focused on getting Cardiff City back in the Premier League and hopefully staying there.

"It's a massive, massive club and I want to play for Cardiff, otherwise I wouldn't have signed in the first place."

Tomlin clearly has all the technical ability needed to thrive in the Championship, and Warnock almost certainly still believes there is a gem in there somewhere, but frustrations over his match fitness were clearly a big factor in his initial move away.

Recalling the circumstances around his initial loan to Nottingham Forest last year, Tomlin said: "I wasn't playing as much as I wanted to at Cardiff, even though I was in an unbelievable position.

"I've grown up just wanting to play football, it's not about money, it's not about this or that, it's about playing football. I love football and I want to get back to that.

"Aitor Karanka had loved working with me at Boro and he wanted to bring me to Forest. I did that, enjoyed it and scored goals.

"I looked at it as a move back home. I wasn't playing a lot and I spoke to the gaffer about it. He wanted me to stay, but he knew I wasn't going to play every week.

"But still when I went back to Cardiff I wasn't as fit as I should have been. That was my own fault again. But now I'm not going to let that be a decision made about me."

(Image: Alex Burstow/Getty Images)

Those experiences have undoubtedly been key drivers behind Tomlin's impressive summer regime, but there have been other issues at play.

The loan move to former club Peterborough last January was mainly due to personal reasons, with the forward keen to move closer to his family in Leicester as a result, but he insists his difficulties off the pitch are now behind him.

"Everything's perfect for me now. It was massive, what Warnock did (for me), allowing me to go to Peterborough to sort out the issues I was having at home.

"Okay, it was a drop down to League One, but mentally and physically, it helped me get back to where I am today."

As it turned out, the work on the training ground in Cambridgeshire was a big catalyst in Tomlin's current efforts to get his Bluebirds career back on track.

"There was a coach at Peterborough, Lee Taylor, who got me on a body fat and fitness programme and I've literally just kicked on from there," he explained.

"I've been on golf holidays and family holidays, but every afternoon I'll still do my sessions, which a few years ago, or for most of my career really, I've never done that and so it's just literally one minute runs, three minute runs, four minute runs, inclines, and things like that. I just haven't' stopped.

"I come in in the morning, have my breakfast, take the kids to school, go and play golf, and then I'll do a session. Then I'll have something to eat before doing another session, before going to bed. Then I'll wake up and go and do it all again.

"I've literally just tried to sort my life out and tried to get as fit as possible."

A fully fit Lee Tomlin in peak physical condition is a prospect that will almost certainly excite most Bluebirds fans - and will keep many a Championship defender awake at night in the process.

His ability has never really been in doubt. Even Manchester United's legendary former boss Sir Alex Ferguson was once impressed by Tomlin's capabilities.

But the nature of such a mercurial talent means a player like Tomlin has always attracted admirers and critics in equal measure.

After what's been a steep learning curve over the last couple of years, the man himself is determined to redress that balance, and shut the critics up once and for all.

"Obviously not getting into the 25-man squad for the Premier League after going to Forest and doing really well, was tough. But it was the fitness thing again. In football that's the only thing anyone has ever said to me.

"Darren Ferguson said the same to me when I was at Peterbrough. Even when his dad, Sir Alex, came to watch, he said 'technically you're unbelievable to watch but it's just the fitness thing'.

"Now I just want to get to that point where no one can talk about fitness.

"I'll always have something to prove. I think until the day you die you're still proving people wrong. Not everyone's going to be happy, but why not try to make everyone happy.

"I'm always trying to prove people wrong, and prove that I'm not this bad guy that people think I am.

"I've got my head screwed on now."