I loved reading Roald Dahl when I was young but I had forgotten a lot about the books. I read the 'BFG' on the iPad the other day and it was so interesting to see his descriptions of clothes and places.

I always wanted to be a winner, to score goals. There was no massive bravery in terms of my mum passing away and stepping up. I just wanted to score. I know everyone would have given me a pass on it if I hadn't taken it. But I'd have had the hump with myself if I'd shirked it.

Training's completely different now. It used to be a lot of running and work without the ball. Now it's all with the ball, which any player loves.

Even with the quality of players that we have, they're an extremely hard side to break down and once they get on top of you, you find it difficult to stem the flow of attacks.

Of course, there will be few people who are sympathetic but you don't become a great team overnight, no matter how much money you have at your disposal.

I'm a very private person, and you have a lot of people looking into your personal life, away from football. That's the one thing that I don't like, but I always remember how lucky we are that we're playing football.

In a way, I've thrived on the competition, perhaps it has made a better player because of it.