Exeter City defender Jack Taylor says quitting academy football as a youngster has made him the player he is today.

The 21-year-old is on a season-long loan from League One side Stevenage.

Having played for a number of youth sides including being on the books at Chelsea, Taylor quit academy football.

He was spotted playing for his local college team by Sutton United who signed him and brought him back into the the professional game.

"I always thought it was one of my biggest regrets," he told BBC Radio Devon.

"But obviously looking back now I think it's definitely shaped who I am today and the motivation and drive to get to where I am today."

He scored his first goal for Exeter in their impressive 2-1 FA Cup win at League One leaders Huddersfield Town on Saturday and has started the Grecians past seven League Two fixtures.

He has yet to break into the Stevenage side - making just one Carabao Cup start in August since a January move from Sutton.

"I was in and out of academies as a young kid, the pressure got to me and the feeling of being released or let down was just overwhelming from a young age. I thought 'I need to take a step back from this and just get my head right'," he said.

"I still played sports like rugby and athletics growing up, so I still was quite sporty, and then that kind of gave me my love back for football.

"I thought maybe football is for me, so I started again and just fell in love with it and that's probably given me the motivation and drive to get to where I am today."

Taylor's rise to first-team regular has coincided with Exeter's upturn in form.

Having been a point off the relegation places at the end of September, the Grecians have won four and lost just one of their past six league games - a close defeat at leaders Salford City.

That run has seen City move up to 12th in League Two, a point off the play-off places.

"It's great confidence for the boys to keep going, keep momentum going and add that in to this weekend and following games to come," he said.

"We're working together well, there's good pairings from the goalkeeper all the way to the strikers and everyone adds different personalities on the pitch and off the pitch, so we're definitely gelling as a team."