Paul Gascoigne snubbed Roy Keane and Duncan Ferguson when naming the hardest man in football who genuinely scared him

Paul Gascoigne snubbed Roy Keane and Duncan Ferguson when naming the hardest man in football.

Gascoigne made his name in the 80s and 90s, playing for the likes of Newcastle United, Tottenham, Lazio and Rangers.

He played with some of the greatest players of his era, including Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer, not to mention ex-Everton teammate Ferguson.

'Gazza' also came up against a host of football hard men such as Manchester United legend Keane, who joined the club from Nottingham Forest.

When Keane was at Forest, he played against him during his spell at Spurs.

But Gascoigne opted against naming the Irish midfielder as football's ultimate hard man.

Instead, he picked out former Wimbledon and Leeds United man Vinnie Jones, with the 57-year-old calling him the 'toughest opponent' he ever faced in his career.

Paul Gascoigne and Vinne Jones during a fixture. Image: Getty

"I remember walking along the corridor at Elland Road when Tottenham played at Leeds and seeing Vinnie in the gym, pumping iron, ripped to bits," he said.

"I’d forgotten he’d just signed for Leeds, and I was going, 'Oh sh*t'. He was my toughest opponent ever, without a shadow of a doubt.

"He was the only player I was ever worried about playing against and it was always a scary 90 minutes. But I would have loved him in my team to protect me."

Gascoigne had a legendary bust-up with Jones, who was famously photographed covertly grabbing his opponent by his testicles during a league game between Wimbledon and Newcastle back in February 1988.

Despite their on-field battles, Jones loved Gascoigne and sees a lot of himself in the ex-England star.

"The press made out we hated each other, but we didn’t I did a job on the day," he explained.

"If we’d lost 3-0, I would’ve been the laughing stock, but then afterwards we had a laugh and got on really well and everything else.

"I see a lot of Gazza in me, our relationship now, he’s like a younger brother, I feel like this sixth sense with us."