Defender Michael Ledger takes on our compendium of random questions on a variety of topics – let’s see if he can entertain us with his answers…

On The Pitch

1 Who is the best player you’ve played with?
When I was at Sunderland, I played with Jermain Defoe. Trying to mark him in training was a task and a half. You would think you had him and then he would suddenly get a yard on you and the ball was in the net! His movement was so good.

2 Who is the best player you’ve played against?
I remember playing against Trent Alexander-Arnold when I was in the Under-23s at Sunderland. We were a pretty good side at the time, but he won Man of the Match for them and controlled the game from right-back, which is something I had never seen before!

3 When you were playing with your mates as a kid, which player did you pretend to be?
Steven Gerrard. I always liked Gerrard because I just thought he could do everything, and he would score worldies at big times in games. The way he carried that Liverpool team was amazing.

4 Which position did you play when you were at school?
Centre-midfield. I really enjoyed playing there too because you’re always involved in the game. I used to score a few long-range goals too – not so much any more though! I played there until I was about 14 or 15 before going back into defence.

5 Were you the best player in your school team?
Haha, I would probably have to say yes. We had some good players and we played against some good players who have gone on to have decent careers in the lower divisions or non-league too.

Off the Pitch

1 How many tattoos do you have?
None. Whenever I get asked about tattoos, I always saw I wouldn’t get one unless it had a specific meaning to me. I’ve got nothing on my mind to get at the moment, so you’ll not see me turning up with a sleeve or anything any time soon!

2 What food do you absolutely hate?
I am not good with salad, you know? Whenever I go out for food, I always ask them to not put salad on my meal. Even on burgers, I just have them plain – tomatoes and all that are not for me!

3 What’s your favourite film?
I would say my all-time favourite is The Shawshank Redemption. I have watched that a few times but it’s on the telly quite regularly and I always put it on because you can just get into it even if you’ve missed the beginning.

4 What hobbies do you have?
I love watching all kinds of sports on television, so I spend time doing that. I also play golf in the summer, and I love going fishing, which isn’t something a lot of footballers do but I really enjoy it.

5 What is your favourite television programme?
I like watching series and I watched At Home With The Furys quite recently and I enjoyed Top Boy as well. My all-time favourite series is probably Peaky Blinders – that’s my go-to thing to watch if there is nothing else on.

Background Check

1 What was your best subject at school?
I would say my best subject was PE, I was always good at that. I enjoyed History too and learning about the past – I did quite well with that at GCSE level too.

2 What is the naughtiest thing you did as a child?
I wasn’t too badly behaved but whenever I got into trouble it was usually for fighting with my older brother! We would fall out over football or what we wanted on the television – he’s a Newcastle fan and I’m a Sunderland fan too so derby days were interesting in our house!

3 What was your favourite television show growing up?
I can’t think of anything that stands out. I was just obsessed with watching football, so I always had Match of the Day on and I love Soccer AM back in the day too.

4 What was your favourite Christmas present as a child?
My dad got me a quad bike one year and that went down quite well! He told me I had to be careful with it but we were straight out on it, me and my brother. We loved that – it was pretty cool!

5 Which video game was your favourite as a child?
I used to enjoy playing on my PlayStation2 when I was a young lad like. It was mostly FIFA but we did also play Pro Evolution Soccer as well – remember that? It was good but it was usually FIFA. I would say I was best at that but then my younger brother came along and was better than everyone!

Would You Rather

1 Would you rather be three feet taller or three feet smaller?
I mean, I am pretty happy with my current height, but I would probably have to go three feet taller. It would be no good trying to play centre-back if I was three feet tall, would it? Haha!

2 Would you rather be constantly overdressed or constantly underdressed?
I would probably say overdressed. It’s always good to dress up and if you turn up somewhere badly dressed and everyone else is smart it would be pretty awkward.

3 Would you rather have no phone for a month or no car for a month?
No car for a month, it would have to be. I would have to beg lifts off people so hopefully a few volunteers would come forward to take me around. I couldn’t imagine losing my phone for a month – I would feel completely cut off!

4 Would you rather be stranded on a desert island alone or with someone you don’t like?
Definitely on my own! I have always been quite happy with my own company so that wouldn’t bother me. It would be weird being there with someone I didn’t like!

5 Would you rather always lose or never play?
Oh, that’s the tough question! I really hate losing, but I think I would still want to play. It’s not a great choice but yeah – I would always want to play.