Brian McDermott

If you ask me why I've succeeded, it's because I was in the Royal Marines. You have this unbelievable sense of achievement and of overcoming adversity. That's the confidence it breeds. ”

People ask me about my interests outside football, but I haven't really got any. ”

It's really important how you say things because people won't necessarily remember what words you used, but they'll remember how you made them feel. ”

My parents are Irish, my grandparents are Irish, my great-grandparents are Irish. I was born in England; my blood is Irish. ”

I love music, from shanty sea-songs to Calvin Harris. ”

I don't believe in an 'all-about-me' culture. It's about the group. ”

Sometimes you have got to look at things really positively - without putting your head in the sand, you have got to manage the negatives and keep putting a positive slant on it, keep trying to find answers. ”

I can't go against my nature because I am what I am. I don't try to be anyone different to who I am. ”