Stephen Ireland speaks about what he used to do during international breaks

"Where was this level of commitment when you were in the club?"

Stephen Ireland speaks about what he used to do during international breaks, and how he used that time to try and get an "edge" over his teammates. Ireland played for Man City, Aston Villa and Stoke in the Premier League, and enjoyed a successful career as a professional footballer. Famously he started off better than he finished, bursting onto the scene as a youngster with Man City, and even picking up the club player of the year award that season, despite having record signing Robinho in the squad. Ireland exclusively told Ladbrokes Fanzone some of the ways he used to reach peak performance, including how he spent his time during the international breaks.

"During the international breaks, when all the lads used to go on holidays, while I would do that sometimes, the majority of the time I was going off to train, booking into a spa, doing yoga, all of that kind of stuff. "I felt like I had the edge over my teammates when we got back into training, because they'd have just been coming back from holidays, so they'd be a bit jetlagged, and have maybe eaten or drank more than they should have done. Even if it was just a placebo effect and I was convincing myself I had a physical edge over them, it worked for me.  "That's my advice; use your time well. These lads coming through now; it's such a short-lived career which can be taken away from you at any moment.

"There are more than enough hours in the day to get some extra training in there. Too many players finish training and think that's them done for the day. But you've got so much time to fill, so make sure you're doing the right thing and putting the work in.

 "A lot of players now seem to wait for things to go wrong, and then start thinking about getting themselves in shape. I see a lot of lads getting released from their clubs over the summer, and now they're scrambling around for opportunities, and I'm just thinking where was this level of commitment when you were in the club? 

"You could've put this much effort in when you were playing for a club, instead of running all the hills in the country now to prove your fitness and commitment." Related links:

• Micah Richards tells cracking Stephen Ireland story from their Man City days
• Stephen Ireland delivers a grim prediction for Liverpool' season
• Stephen Ireland clarifies comments about getting the better of football legends