Micah Richards admits he didn't like Gary Neville when he was a Man City player

Micah Richards has admitted he was not a fan of Gary Neville when he was a Manchester City player during their bitter rivalry with Manchester United - calling him 'horrible' to play against.

Richards, now a pundit with Neville at Sky Sports - came up against the former defender a number of times during their time in the Premier League as City began to challenge their neighbours for the title.

And while Richards now believes the former United right back is 'a nice guy' having got to know him in the studio, he concedes that he did not see eye to eye with him on the football pitch.

'I didn't really used to like Gary Neville, to be honest, because of the rivalry between the Reds and the Blues,' the former centre-back told Jamie Carragher's The Greatest Game podcast.

'When I worked with him I was like 'actually, he's a nice guy', but playing against him - he was horrible!'

While the pair have since buried the hatchet from their playing days, Richards has still disagreed with Neville on a couple of matters - including his opinions on United midfielder Paul Pogba, who has been subject to severe criticism from pundits.

The 32-year-old says he wanted to 'put a couple of things straight' with Neville after hearing what he claimed were 'false' comments.

'Some of the stuff he used to say about Pogba... I didn't want to argue with him, but I  wanted to put a couple of things straight because I know Pogba and whatnot. A lot of what he was saying was false.'

Neville has indeed been a critic of Pogba in the past, claiming he played the game 'at walking pace' and 'can do much more' in 2018, before clarifying last year that he comes down so hard on the World Cup winner because 'the biggest players will get the biggest criticism'.

Richards, who retired from professional football in 2019 and quickly became a prominent face on England's football coverage, admits he felt 'starstruck' when he was first invited to work for Sky as he sat alongside big names like Neville, Carragher and Roy Keane, and now considers them as his friends.

'I was starstruck at the start, because you lot are legends of the game,' he said. 'But now I feel like I can call you my friend.'

Richards featured 245 games for his boyhood club City, starting his career while the club were still battling in mid-table, before the Abu Dhabi group took them over and elevated them to new heights.

He was part of the team that won their first Premier League title in 2011-12 and also won the FA Cup during their rise to prominence before he was sold to Aston Villa in the 2015-16 season.

But his spell in the Midlands did not go to plan as he was powerless to prevent the club sinking down to the Championship in his first campaign. He played just three times across the next three seasons and decided to call time on his career at the end of 2018-19.