Brentford striker Andre Gray has opened up about his troubled past that once involved him getting stabbed in the face.

The former Luton Town player, who grew up in Wolverhampton, had his left cheek sliced open during a gang-related fight when he was 18 years old.

"I was getting into trouble," the Daily Mail quotes Gray as saying. "At the time, I got caught at the wrong place at the wrong time, but it made me grow as a person.

"I got stabbed. I didn't deserve it but I was putting myself in certain situations where it was bound to happen. It's part of where I was from and part of my life but I'm behind it. Since then I haven't looked back."

Gray, who has scored 16 goals in the Championship this season, is expected to play in tonight's crucial playoff semi-final against Middlesbrough as the Bees target promotion to the Premier League.