Sports psychologist Bill Beswick has explained what makes former Republic of Ireland captain Roy Keane so special.
Beswick worked with Keane at Manchester United, where his role entailed getting elite players to overcome any mental hurdles to personal success.
"He challenged everybody, he was brilliant," Beswick told the Freedom Pact podcast.
"He made everybody around him 10% better because he would not accept mediocrity. He would tell everyone the truth - I called him the ultimate truth-teller.
"If you played poorly, he would tell you. If you weren't making an effort, he would tell you. As a result, you began to play for Roy and play to his standards.
"I was at Manchester United for two years, and sometimes I saw the impact on the players around him. Sometimes, with the best will in the world, when the sky is black and cold [then] you don't really feel like putting the effort in.
"But Roy would go out there and his standard would be 100%, no excuses."
Beswick compared Keane to the more recent exhibitors of similar attitudes to training and improvement, in swimmer Adam Peaty and Liverpool 's Steven Gerrard.
"There are people who have that 'no excuse' mindset that drives people to being a champion.
"The other factor about all three is that they don't care what other people think about them, only what they think about themselves.
"One of the greatest pressures that causes people to lose their way is the expectations of others. They end up playing for their parents, the crowd or the media.
"Those three set their own standards. The only time they were upset was when they lowered their own standards, and didn't meet their own expectations.
"That made [Keane] fireproof. The media could say what they liked, the fans could do what they liked. 'Did I do everything I could to make that a great performance?'
"That is a very, very tough quality."
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