I think after a big European game you're looking at four or five days. For two days afterwards I don't really do anything. I do a recovery the next day, which is bike work, a light stretch, some yoga and an ice bath after that. Then the second day I would just do the bike again for 20 minutes and then do some strides, which is box to box, just eight of them, just to get the legs going and the blood going again.

There's never been completion in my football career because I've always been striving for that next thing. You listen to people who have finished and nothing replaces playing, but I'm still excited about not having to put my body through what I've put it through. And not feeling the disappointment that I feel.

I've put myself forward to be involved. Whether I get picked, we'll have to wait and see. Obviously everybody is excited about it, about the Olympics coming to London and the football being played in different parts of Britain.

When you lose a game or don't play well you can't wait for the next one, because it soon disappears, the disappointment.

I am proud of my black roots and of the black blood that runs in my veins.

My weight doesn't really fluctuate, but I make sure I don't eat late at night. It's about making sure I'm right physically because mentally I'm OK.

Every one is special. Especially after the disappointment of last year, losing out on the last day, it is a great achievement by the lads.