WELSH AND PROUD

`I'd rather go through my entire career without qualifying for a major championships than play for a country where I wasn't born and neither I or either of my parents had anything to do with. That's just stupid.'

`What has bugged me more than anything in my career is to keep on hearing people say I chose to play for Wales. I still hear it, people discussing it on the radio even now, it's very, very annoying for me.

`It's the question that has bugged me most for the last 10 years or so. I am Welsh, 100 percent. End of story. Both my parents and all my grandparents are Welsh. It's as simple as that, it's impossible for me to play for England.'

And why hasn't your hamstring gone yet?

"I've had the same Mercedes now for 18 months and all I can say is that I've played the last 14 or 15 games without problems. I haven't done that since I was 19,"

"I was getting really frustrated by the injuries and was willing to try anything.

"I've changed my diet a bit, have a new regime of daily exercise and have kept the same car."