Duncan Ferguson snubbed Roy Keane when naming the three toughest opponents he faced in his career

Former Premier League forward Duncan Ferguson once revealed who his ‘three toughest opponents' were – and there was no place for Roy Keane.

Ferguson, 53, was known for his no-nonsense approach to being a centre forward during his playing career.

He played for Dundee United and Rangers in his native Scotland before making a name for himself in the Premier League with Everton who he joined in 1994 before going on to win the 1995 FA Cup final against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United. He then endured a brief stint at Newcastle in 1998 before returning to the Toffees in 2000.

And despite scoring 68 goals in the English top-flight he is arguably best known for being a ‘hard man’.

Although, when speaking to The Times’ Paul Joyce in 2021 he described himself as a “big softie”.

“As far as I am concerned I am a big softie,” he said. “Maybe on the field I was a bit different because that’s when you have your war paint on. It was part and parcel of the game, really, and a lot of it gets blown out of proportion. People just like to talk and the story rolls on and rolls on and rolls on. I didn’t see myself as that person.”

Duncan Ferguson after the 1995 FA Cup final (Credit:Getty)

But he no doubt cherishes the memories of by-gone battles against the likes of Keane, 53.

However, the former United captain was snubbed by Ferguson when he revealed his top three ‘toughest opponents’.

The Scot described former Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia as “so big and so good in the air for Liverpool. He wasn’t the quickest, but he read the game brilliantly”.

He also named former Arsenal captain Tony Adams in his list, saying he was “tough, hard, old school defender. There was him, Martin Keown, Gary Pallister and Steve Bruce — players who used to get their head in”.

But one of Keane’s former teammates, Rio Ferdinand was included, with Ferguson explaining how the ex-England centre-back was the best “footballer” out of the trio mentioned.

“He had a bit of everything,” said Ferguson. “He wasn’t a soft touch either.”

And despite seemingly not being the most intimidating from Ferguson’s perspective, Keane admitted that he used to “stay away” from the Scot when discussing him during live coverage of Everton’s FA Cup quarter-final clash with Arsenal on ITV Sport in 2014.

“I used to stay away from him,” said Keane. “We’re talking about characters earlier and he’s certainly that. He was a top, top player and he’s obviously been promoted up the last two or three weeks to work with the first team and no doubt the strikers at Everton will learn a lot from him.”