Chelsea defender Toni Rudiger says being aggressive on the pitch comes naturally for him.

Rudiger has become known as one of the hard men of the Premier League.

"I don't know why I have this. I have something in me that when I see something that doesn't matter or if I get kicked or something like this, then I'm ready to go. Then I don't need any extra motivation from anybody, let's say, in a football way," he said.

"It's like this in football sometimes. You can get kicked, it is what it is at the end of the day. It's competition, it's sport, but it's not like you want to hurt someone and as long as you don't go over the line, for me everything is fine."

To underline his point that these tussles on the pitch are just part of football and nothing personal, Rudiger gave another example of a player who takes the same approach without crossing the line, Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay, after the two were seen in a heated exchange during our 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge last season.

"I like this Scott McTominay because he's someone who you can have something with, like a little bit of an issue on the pitch and everything, and after the game you shake hands, respect each other and everybody goes his own way," he also told chelseafc.com.