Mark Noble tends to split opinions as a player these days but his commitment to the West Ham United cause remains total.
Whatever one may feel about his place in the team – and of late he has certainly shown some genuine form – nobody will ever be able to take away his love of the club he has served all his life.
Now he has explained that although he remains nine years younger than the guy who helped him develop what he sees as the right attitude to training, Teddy Sheringham remains an inspiration.
The striker came back to the club as an attacking coach of course after serving out one of the longest careers in the game.
Amazingly the former England hit man arrived at the Irons aged 37 back in 2004 and scored 28 goals in 78 games winning a Championship Player of the Year award along the way.
So little wonder that his attitude on the training pitch is one that Noble regularly recalls.
He explained: “When I first came into the team years and years ago, Teddy Sheringham was in the team. I think he was pushing 40 at the time. I used to see him train harder than anyone else.
“That always stuck in my head to say ‘look, you don’t want time off, you don’t want to have a day on and a day off, you want to be out there proving to everyone that you can cope with these young, fit and energetic 19-year-olds’.
“I’m still out there every day pushing.”