Quotes from Peter Crouch

A little voice keeps telling me an Aston Martin really isn't me, but a louder voice is telling me that, as an England international playing for Liverpool, the old rules no longer apply.

I'll be walking down the street with a mate, and someone will stop and say 'All right Crouchy, how's things?' and so on. Once they're gone, the person I'm with will say 'Do you know them?' and I'll say 'I've never met them before in my life'. Happens all the time.

I don't know why, but playing for England, I always feel I am going to score.

I'm not the type of player that's going to run in behind or go past three and score.

Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to score volleys.

I've never been renowned for electric pace. It doesn't seem to have held me back.

I'm 6ft 7in, so I have a massive bed.

I enjoy being different.

In my early years, I wanted to be like Paul Gascoigne.

Des Bulpin discovered me and, along with my dad, would be the biggest influence on my career. I remember him telling me when I was 15 that Jermain Defoe and I would play together for England when we were older, and he hasn't been too far wrong.

If I played badly as a kid, my dad would tell me, and my mum would say, 'You were brilliant today'. It's nice to have both: when I need a bit of confidence, I'll see her, and if I need to hear it straight, I'll see my dad.

When I first started playing, the only time you knew you would get photographed was if the paparazzi were outside a smart restaurant in town.

The Championship is a ferocious league, physically demanding, and it simply does not allow players the luxury of cruising through.

I once bought an ill-advised half cashmere, half camel hair jumper for £800, then ruined it by spilling a pint of Guinness all over it.

I am not the sort of character to get carried away.

Footballers are very superstitious.

Some people have never fancied me, but there have been plenty others who have backed me.

I've always been surrounded by good people who rein me back in.

Spending time in Sweden on loan was one of the best things I ever did.

I know my strengths and weaknesses, and I play to them.

I'd like to think I'm an approachable fella, and if someone wants me to pose for a picture, I'll always say 'yes' even when I'm with my family.

When I was a kid, the FA Cup was the one: it was bigger than the European Cup, even. So to win that, for me, and my dad as well - we used to watch it together - was brilliant.

I can understand why people laugh and make jokes, but I'm comfortable with being this tall. It's not as if I've had a sudden growth spurt. I've always been like this, so I get used to the constant height references.

I'd hate to be the sort of player who people just regard as being tall and only good for winning headers.