FORMER Blues’ Academy midfielder Mitchell McPike has revealed how he used psychology to overcome the daunting process of auditioning for The X Factor.

Just weeks after ten years at St Andrews ended with the club’s then boss Alex McLeish showing him the door, Mitch went to the NEC to try to follow in the musical footsteps of his heroes like Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake and Usher.

But since his own singing was limited to performing Ain’t No Mountain High Enough in the showers at Blues’ Wast Hills training centre – with his fellow players joining in on the choruses – how could the former pupil at Cofton Junior School and Turves Green Secondary succeed in The X Factor auditions in front of the likes of Westlife creator Louis Walsh?

Answer: Mitch took Blues’ expert in psychology Tom Bates with him to the NEC, ready to turn the potentially negative fear of being rejected again into a positive.

Three videos online show the pair discussing how Tom helped Mitch to use positive thinking to overcome his nerves at the time of The X Factor auditions.

Looking back, Mitch says: “I was nervous in the England v Spain match sitting on the bench – many of the players I was with, like Jack Wilshere, Jack Rodwell and Nathan Delfouneso, have made it into the game.

“Not many of the candidates who are my age will have had that kind of experience so I can use that to help me on The X Factor.”

As the man behind what Sir Alex Ferguson might call ‘Mitch’s mind games’, Tom Bates added: “I was part of The X Factor audition process.

“I was with Mitch before he went on stage, running through a lot of exercises and asking him what had helped him the most when he was playing football so that he could stay calm under pressure.

“He did some breathing exercises so that he was focussed and he did very well.”

How does Tom think Mitch coped with rejection at Blues?

“It’s something that no professional or youth team player ever wants to hear because that’s the dream they want to achieve when they are here,” says Tom.