“I’ve played 485 games, including a couple of loan spells early on, and I’m still hungry for many more.
Many top midfielders have been bought by the club during those years, yet my mentality has never changed. I’ve always thought, ‘If fit, I’m playing every week — there’s no way I am letting anyone else take this shirt’.
I’m 32 now but I still get nervous before every training session and that’s because I want to be the best player out there. I’ll have that attitude until my final game as a player and I suppose it’s a fear of failure which drives me.”