I’m EFL star with a six-hour round trip to training every day… but I still get fined £50 every time I’m late

WITH 10 antithetic clubs nether his loop from a lengthy career, John-Joe O’Toole is what you mightiness telephone a journeyman.

And Wimbledon’s dedicated defender inactive clocks up hundreds of miles to prosecute his dreams and to wage the bills.

Fans’ favourite O’Toole commutes for six hours a time to grooming and backmost location to Northampton wherever helium lives with his woman and 3 kids — 1 of whom is autistic.

The 180-mile regular circular travel to the League Two nine is simply a satellite distant from the lifestyles enjoyed by the Prem stars of Newcastle, who big them successful Tuesday's rescheduled Carabao Cup third-round necktie — with a location crippled against Chelsea successful the past 16 astatine stake.

O’Toole, 36, said: “It’s astir 2 and a fractional to 3 hours determination and the aforesaid back, 3 oregon 4 times a week.

“Last twelvemonth I was doing it astir days. It’s a batch of clip connected the road.

“We person to beryllium successful for 9.30am and if you’re precocious you get fined. I’ve picked up a few, unfortunately, but astatine slightest it goes into the cookware for the Christmas do.

“Normally I springiness myself 3 hours truthful I permission astatine 6.30am. If I don’t springiness myself 3 hours it is going to beryllium tight.

“I conscionable marque a java and leave. If I person clip I mightiness person a spot of toast but usually I don’t due to the fact that I americium bloody shattered!

“So, normally, I conscionable get up and leave. It’s £50 to beryllium precocious to conscionable earlier grooming and different £30 if you are precocious for training.

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“I enactment implicit the nights earlier games and worldly but we don’t person overmuch assistance backmost home. My missus has a mates of wellness problems, my girl is autistic, truthful it’s rather hard juggling it all.

“I person a five-year-old, three-year-old and an 11-month-old. If I’m going location connected a Friday it tin beryllium 3 and a fractional hours. I don’t adjacent privation to deliberation however overmuch I walk connected petrol.

“On the mode location I mightiness halt astatine the services for a speedy kip. But I person to acceptable a 15-minute alarm, oregon other I’d beryllium determination for hours.

“My girl has conscionable started school. She is simply a twelvemonth aboriginal due to the fact that we couldn’t get her a place.

“She is non-verbal. All of this makes it truly hard to simply up and move.”

Dramatic flooding astatine Wimbledon’s Plough Lane crushed past week caused the archetypal third-round clash with Newcastle to beryllium postponed and past switched to St James’ Park — meaning different agelong travel for O’Toole.

He said: “One of the lads enactment a pic of the transportation connected our WhatsApp and I thought helium was joking.

“It’s not what we were expecting but astir of the lads are rather blessed due to the fact that it means they get to play astatine a large crushed similar St James’ Park.

“I person played determination before, with Northampton. We mislaid but it was a large experience. We’ve done good astatine Plough Lane this play truthful possibly this weakens our chances of going through.

“But we person already beaten Premier League absorption successful Ipswich, truthful who knows?”

The Plough Lane flooding has enactment Dons’ 100 per cent league location grounds connected clasp and O’Toole - whose erstwhile clubs besides see Watford, Colchester, Bristol Rovers and Sheffield United - said: “We person been doing truthful good astatine home.

“But arsenic a radical we person to beryllium determined that it volition not disrupt our progress.”