Following the Champions League encounter between AC Milan and Tottenham Hotspur at the San Siro yesterday and Milan's Gennaro Gattuso going head-to-head with Spurs coach Joe Jordan, I thought it would be apt to have a look at some of the hardest players in the history of English football. Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp clearly fancied Joe to get one over Rino if push came to shove, but how does he compare to other players past and present?

It is of course hard to compare players from different eras of English football, with the history of football in this country full of uncompromising players, but some recent hard men would definitely stand up to tough tacklers of the past. I have hand-picked ten of the hardest footballers to grace these shores over the years, and it's down for you to pick the ultimate hard man of English football.

Click on Jordan and Gattuso below to see the contenders

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