Manchester United Double winner Paul Ince has paid a glowing tribute to former teammate Roy Keane.

Ince, 52, has played with his fair share of the world's top players from his time at United, Liverpool and Inter Milan, including Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona and Robbie Fowler.

But when asked to single out one player he misses the most, it was the former Ireland captain that Ince turned to.

"When Roy came [to United], I was thinking, 'Yeah, he's only young, but I like him, I like the way he is'," he told The Mirror.

"He was such a good leader of the team and one of those players who, when you thought that you were a good ­player, he could turn you into a great ­one.

"I like to think that I was a very good player, but he demanded more of you to make you a great player. We kind of got it out of each other. We were very good friends off the pitch as well. Some players have partnerships on the pitch but don't really go out after.

"Me and Keaney, after every game – whether we'd won, lost or drawn – we used to sit down in the changing room when everyone had gone and analyse our ­performances.

"I'd be saying, 'You need to be better at this, you didn't do this and, defensively, you need to do that'.

"Sometimes I'd be saying, 'You were great at this', and he'd be ­saying things to me and we'd kind of bounce off each other. That's what made us so great."

Ince continued: "As a player, he had everything – he could score, tackle and, of course, he was naughty at times. I say 'at times', but he was naughty quite a lot of times.

"But he could talk the talk and walk the walk. He wanted everyone to play the way he played and we had a team that did that.

"And when you have seven or eight players who demand that week in, week out, you win things. Some people couldn't stand up to his demands and that was a ­problem at times.

"If they couldn't do it, it would frustrate him because they weren't as good as he was."