I hate for people to think that I have only played for West Ham because I am the local lad and people make allowances for me.
It is hard if you have got family and kids and you have to leave them on Christmas Day to go and train but listen, we are a small minority of lucky players. We have obviously worked hard for this, but we are lucky enough to have the ability to play in the Premier League.
I watch a lot of football and you hardly ever see Premier League players go down with cramp. The fitness, the intensity of Premier League football is phenomenal.
To wear this shirt, especially with the West Ham badge on it - it takes an honest player, hard-working, a player that leaves everything on the pitch and plays for the crest on the shirt.
Obviously when you grow up in the area you love playing on the street, and to go from playing on the street with my mates to playing at Upton Park is a bit surreal, and 15 years on to still be in the heart of the West Ham midfield is quite good going!
I love playing football. I always look at it as there's a lot worse things you can be doing than coming into a training ground in the morning and playing footy and having a laugh with the boys.
I've been here for 19 years, so West Ham fans are bored with seeing me. It's like my wife, who changes the wallpaper every three years because she gets tired of it.
