Man Utd legend Jaap Stam had no doubts when naming the two hardest players he faced during his career

Legendary Manchester United defender Jaap Stam has revealed the two toughest players he faced during his career.

Having played at the very top of the sport throughout his 15-year career, Stam has had to defend against some of the biggest hard men in football.

Even in training, the Dutchman came up against perhaps the Premier League's hardest player every day, Roy Keane.

However, when asked to pick out the two players that he believed were the hardest that he had ever faced, the Manchester United legend didn't hesitate.

Having hosted players like Patrick Vieira, Vinnie Jones and even Stam himself, the Premier League is undoubtedly one of the 'hardest' and most physical leagues across all sports.

But there is one man that often comes out on top of any list of Premier League hardmen, and he's the first name that came to mind for Stam alongside a former Bundesliga star.

Speaking to SPORTbible, via Makthavare.se, Stam said: "In terms of the biggest hard man I came up against, I can talk about Duncan Ferguson at Everton as well as Jan Koller with the Czech Republic.

"As a defender, you’d want to get in front of them, you want to anticipate the situation and they’d use their elbows and sometimes a headbutt. They used their bodies as well as big guys."

Ferguson made over 270 appearances across nearly a decade playing for Everton and during this time found himself on the receiving end of an incredible 42 yellow cards and six reds due to his playing style.

Meanwhile Koller, who is regarded as one of the greatest Czech players of all time thanks to his impressive goal scoring record of 55 goals in 91 caps, saw 60 yellow cards and three reds across both his club and international career.

Jaap Stam and Jan Koller clashed on several occasions during their international careers. (Image: Getty)

However, Stam confidently assured that, despite both Ferguson and Kollar causing issues due to their hard playing style, they didn't intimidate him as he felt confident he could defend against any forward in the world.

"Having said that, there was no striker who I thought about before the game that would scare me. No striker I thought would give me a big issue," added the Manchester United legend.

"When it comes to hardest to play against, you think about Alan Shearer, I also remember playing against Vinnie Jones for Wales and you knew he was going to put a tackle in if you got close to him. It was good to play against players like that to test yourself. Hard, physically strong players."