Ex-Newcastle United man who played twice claims he ‘always got the better’ of Gerrard, Lampard & Scholes

Former Newcastle United loan midfielder Stephen Ireland has been discussing some of the best players he has faced in the Premier League. Ireland played almost 250 Premier League matches during his career but only two of those came for Newcastle during a half-season loan spell from Aston Villa.

Ireland came off the bench for The Magpies in the goalless draw against Manchester United and the 1-1 draw with Blackpool in what was a largely forgettable loan spell from the former Republic of Ireland international.

Ireland was named Manchester City’s player of the season during the 2008-09 campaign in a squad that included the likes of Robinho and Vincent Kompany.

In a video posted by RH Elite Coaching on TikTok, Ireland was asked about the best players he had faced during his career.

But the 36-year-old was unable to give a definitive answer as he responded: “I’ve played against some huge names and they never got the better of me or I never played against them and went ‘wow, these are incredible’.

“Steven Gerrard for example, Frank Lampard, every time I’ve played against them I’ve always got the better of them.

“Eventhough they are incredible players, on the day, I can only go from that. I can turn around and say they’re great players, Paul Scholes, all these guys are great players but I never had a game where I thought ‘oh God, I’m out of my depth,’ that was never the case.”

The video has since been removed from TikTok.