Steven Gerrard once stated that a former England teammate would intentionally leave stud marks on him. The Liverpool legend, having made his debut in 1998, broke through in an era where many players adopted a no-nonsense approach to training and matches.
The likes of Roy Keane, Patrick Vieira and Duncan Ferguson, some of the hardest players in Premier League history, were dominating on the pitch early on in Gerrard's career. None of them were afraid to give it out, with arguments and bust-ups all too common in matches.
One individual who certainly fit the bill was defender Martin Keown. The ex-defender had a reputation for a sometimes brutal approach to the beuatiful game, and Gerrard revealed just how tough he was during Three Lions training sessions.
Keown Left Studs on Gerrard
Liverpool icon said he trained like he played
While on punditry duty for BT Sport, Gerrard was sat next to Keown and Robbie Savage in the studio when the former was asked about his hardman status. The former Arsenal man often tried to intimidate players, as Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy found out after missing a late penalty in the 'Battle of Old Trafford' back in 2003.
But when Keown insisted that he didn't feel like a hardman because of the era he played in, Gerrard instantly fired back. He said: "He was tough, he used to wear red pumas in England training with studs in like that [referring to the length of Keown's studs].
"You'd come off and and you'd be like 'Mart, I thought we were mates? We've got a game on Saturday and I've got stud marks all over me!'
"He used to play in training like he did in games, so he didn't even know he was tough."
Keown was equally complimentary of Gerrard's toughness on the football pitch. He stated that he had heard from fellow professionals that the young midfielder was also a hard-hitting player during training sessions for Liverpool.
"I remember when he first got into the Liverpool first team he wasn't respectful of reputations," Keown said. "Arthur Cox said to me 'There was a tackle between you two and I thought the ball had a headache,' because he did put the tackles in, and he could take it as well."
Gerrard on His Hardest Liverpool Teammates
Picked out two players who could take the punishment
An old Steven Gerrard celebrates scoring for Liverpool against Everton.
Gerrard was then asked to name the hardest teammates that he shared a dressing room with while at Liverpool. The first name on his mind was Luis Suarez. It was not just his natural goalscoring ability that impressed him, but also his ability to take the hits in training.
"He never went in the treatment room," he said. "He would often play on with injuries after being kicked all over the pitch. He'd have bruises all over the place, but he'd be robust and available for every game. That's tough for me."
The other individual who stood out to Gerrard was Jamie Carragher, who he shared a dressing room with for 15 years. In a similar vein to Suarez, he said that the defender would get straight up after being tackled, and wouldn't be afraid to deal out some revenge.
"Jamie Carragher was another one. He was robust, mentally strong. He'd also get kicked and would be straight back up. There's a lot of different ways to be tough as a footballer."