Alan Shearer says the amount of respect he had for Roy Keane was what drove his competitiveness with the Manchester United legend.
Former Newcastle United striker Shearer had a number of infamous run-ins with Keane over the years when his Magpies side and United were battling it out at the top of the Premier League, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Shearer was unveiled as an inaugural Premier League hall of fame inductee earlier this week, with Keane among the 23 nominees up for the vote to join him.
Speaking to the Premier League, Shearer said that Keane's determination to win made him respect the midfielder, even though tensions often boiled over on the pitch.
The Premier League's record scorer also said he felt that is what helped to make Keane such an inspirational captain for United.
"I did (have run-ins) but only because of the amount of respect I had for him, because of how much he wanted to win and what a captain he was," he said.
"The sign of a great captain is when your team is in trouble, you've got 70,000 or 80,000 fans looking at you, you've got millions all around the world looking at you.
"Probably more importantly, you've got your teammates and your manager looking at you to do something to get us out of trouble.
"Whether that be a tackle, a pass or a goal, whatever that may be and that's what great captains do - and that's what Roy Keane was.
"He was a great leader and he led his team to so many victories, to so many trophies and he epitomised everything great about Man United at that time."
