Me, 'The Pest' and the rest

At 36-years-old Paul Dickov might be in his twilight years, but he's still as tenacious as ever!

The former Scotland striker is currently plying his trade in the Midlands with Derby County, after joining the Rams on loan from Leicester in August.

Born in Livingston, Dickov began his footballing journey south of the border with Arsenal in 1989 and over the last 20 years he has been a constant thorn in the side of every defender he has ever come across.

Never letting the opposition settle, his style of play earned him the nicknames 'The Wasp' and The Pest', but despite the slightly unflattering nature of the names he revealed he was more than happy with them:

"I've said before that I'm not the sort of player that is going to beat six or seven players and stick the ball in the top corner," he told Soccer AM.

"One of my main assets is getting in and around defenders and upsetting them and that's where (the nicknames) came from really.

"People say don't give me the ball just let me chase it, and I'm quite happy to do that."

Tussles

Never one to shirk a tackle, the former Blackburn and Manchester City star has been involved in more than his fair share of tussles, but he picked out one player above all as his fiercest competitor.

"I know he's England captain and a top man, but every time I've played against John Terry we've kicked each other black and blue!

"But at the end of the game we always shake hands, pat each other on the back and get on with it."

While Dickov admits he is happy that his reputation on the field precedes him, it does have its drawbacks off it.

While most players are happy to mingle when they bump into each other outside of the 'office', Dickov told Helen and Max he rarely gets a warm reception!

He said: "You meet some players whether it is on holiday or on a night out and they tend not to talk to me for a little bit!

"But then you start speaking to them and they think 'he's not that bad after all'."

Boss

During his first spell at Manchester City Dickov played alongside his current boss Nigel Clough, but despite the change in their working relationship he said their mutual respect meant there was no awkwardness.

"There's automatic respect there because I've played with him and I know him well. As a player he was fantastic and he's taken that into his management.

"He's a little bit old school in what he does, but his training is fantastic. He's a manager that if the players work hard for him he'll look after you and if you don't he'll soon let you know."