Q - Please can you start by telling us a bit about your background
A - I was born in Australia to English parents who returned to England when I was 3. I was then bought up in England. I'm 27 and I have 2 brothers, who both play football as well.
Q - Please can you tell us a little about your career to date
A - I started at Manchester Utd at 14 and stayed for 3 seasons before joining Aston Villa, where I also stayed for 3 years. Then I signed for Sheffield United, where I made my 1st team debut at 19. After the team won promotion to the Premiership I signed for Bradford City, where i stayed for 2 years. After that, I joined Mansfield Town for another 2 years. Whilst at Mansfield we reached the FA Trophy final and played at Wembley in front of 40 thousand. I had a short period in Belgium then came out to Thailand. I have also made 23 appearances for England U16s - U20s.
Q - Who has been the biggest influence on your career and why?
A - I'd say David Beckham has had the biggest influence. When I was at Manchester United I would watch him train all the time and see him practicing free kicks every day. He was a role model for me for sure.
Q - Who is the best coach you've worked under and why
A- Stuart McCall was a very good coach at Bradford City. He was the assistant at Sheffield Utd then became 1st team coach at Bradford and he gave me my break when I was still young and at a big club. He was a very good coach but also good 1 on 1 with the players and he's now doing a good job at Motherwell in the SPL.
Q - Who is the best player you've played with?
A - Gary Cahill. Skilful and strong centre half who's won the Champions League and is a good friend of mine.
Q - Who is the best player you've played against?
A - Cesc Fabregas. He always seemed to know what he was going to do before he recieved the ball.
Q - If you weren't a footballer, what would you like to be?
A - A coach.
Q - How did your move to Thailand come about?
A - Chris Brandon, who I played with at Bradford City, came out and played for 2 years at Bec Tero.He said how good it was and that I should think about it so I took him up on it and he got me out here.
Q - How did you feel about moving to Thailand?
A - At first I didn't know what to expect but after 10 years of playing in England I was ready for something new.
Q - What did you know about the TPL before you moved to Thailand?
A - During my conversations with Chris, he said it was getting better every year and the fan clubs are getting bigger but also the standard of the TPL was improving. He also told me there are some very good technical players out here.
Q - How easy has it been for you to settle in Thailand?
A - It's been very easy because the people are very friendly and the staff and lads at Chiang Rai Utd have made me feel at home.
Q - Please describe a typical day at Chiang Rai Utd
A - We train in the morning, maybe with an 8.30am start. We finish at 10:15am and have something to eat. Then I go back to my apartment and rest or have a swim. I will eat again before afternoon training. Training start again around 4:30pm. When it's over I back home, shower, then out for tea and Skype my family at home. Finally, I go to sleep ready for the next day.
Q - How does this compare with what you have experienced in the past?
A - To be honest, when you're a footballer there is a lot of eating, sleeping and resting. In England it's important to do all of these if you want to perform as a professional footballer so i guess it's normal for me.
Q - Please describe a typical away matchday routine?
A - 8:30am breakfast. Then rest in your hotel room until maybe 12:00pm/12:30pm, when we go for lunch. At 1:00pm we have a team meeting. I'll have a snack at 3pm and then do some stretching. At 4:30pm we report for the game. Finally, 6:00pm kick off.
Q - How does this compare with what you've experienced at your other clubs?
A - It is basically the same routine. Thailand, from what I hear, is a lot more profesisonal than it was a few years agao and it shows with our training and matchday schedules.
Q - What have been the main reasons for Chiang Rai Utd's problems this season?
A - I think in the first 5-10 games we played well but we seemed to concede in the last 5 minutes in nearly every game . I train day in day out with the lads and we have a lot of quality in the squad and I don't think our position reflects the quality we have but sometimes it happens in football. Hopefully we can fight and stay in the TPL.
Q - Will Chiang Rai Utd stay up this season?
A - Yes. I'm very confident.
Q - Which TPL teams have impressed you this season?
A – BEC Tero when they came to play us in our home stadium. They played really well and produced some good football. Obviously Buriram Utd and Muang Thong Utd are really strong and hard to beat as well.
Q - Which TPL players have impressed you this season?
A - Cleiton Silva at BEC Tero and Carmelo from Buriram Utd are the two I’ve played against and thought were good players.
Q - How does the standard in the TPL compare with your previous playing experiences?
A – It’s very hard to compare with the heat etc. The tempo is a lot slower than England and the game is not as physical. I’d say there are a lot more technically good players in Thailand who are comfortable with a ball.
Q - What do you think about Chonburi FC?
A - I think Chonburi are a strong team and have some very dangerous players, especially Thiago Cunha and Leandro . The coach likes them to play good football and they keep possession well.
Q - What do you think our strengths are?
A - I think you play very good football and it’s difficult to win the ball back if you give Chonburi possession.
Q - And out weaknesses?
A - Like we saw in the 4-3 game at our place earlier in the season, maybe if Chonburi take the lead they sit back a bit, which gives the other team more opportunities to attack.
Q - What sort of tactics do you think you'll need to adopt on Sunday?
A - I don’t want to give too much away but I’m sure it will be an entertaining game, like the 4-3 game.
Q - What sort of match do you think it will be?
A – I’m hoping for both teams to play good football and there are plenty of chances - mainly for us!
Q - Will you be keeping one eye on the fixtures involving the other teams at the bottom?
A - We can only concentrate on what we do in the 90 minutes, then after we will hope results have gone our way.
Q - Would you care to make a score prediction?
A - 2-1 to Chiang Rai Utd.
Q - Who's got the best haircut in the TPL?
A – Erm… I honestly haven’t seen many. I’ll go for my old teammate Leandro. He liked a different hairstyle.
Q - And the worst?
A – I’d say mine at the moment! I had it shaved off and it’s only just growing back.
Q - Which team has the worst kit in the TPL?
A - Samut Songkram’s is a little bit plainer than most, if I remember rightly.
Q - What do you really think of the pre match and pre second half huddles?
A - We did it sometimes in England. I think they’re quite good and it just gets us all motivated for the game.
Q - Is anything worthwhile actually said in there?
A - Just to fight for the team, have confidence and enjoy playing football, which is important. They also encourage you to win.
Q - Thank you.
A - You're welcome.
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