John Hartson and Eyal Berkovic – 1998

Eyal Berkovic was left battered by John Hartson after this bruising training ground bust-up in 1998. Berkovic’s right hand jab at Hartson’s waist, having been tackled by the Welshman, resulted in Hartson striking his West Ham team-mate with his left boot. Unfortunately for Hartson, a hefty fine followed and grainy footage remains of the incident.

Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif – September 2007

Plenty of flashes of the bat in the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup last year, but the most surprising came from Shoaib Akhtar, the Pakistani fast bowler, during a heated training session. After an exchange of words with Mohammad Asif, Akhtar middled his team-mate’s thigh and left South Africa with a five-year ban, later reduced to 18 months.

Joey Barton v Ousmane Dabo - 2007

Another episode in Joey Barton’s incident-blighted career – branded a “coward” by Ousmane Dabo after the Newcastle midfielder allegedly punched him unconscious and put his fingers in his team-mate’s eyes in training. Barton was later arrested, given a four-month suspended sentence and banned for 12 games by the Football Association.

Freddie Ljungberg and Olof Mellberg – 2002

A hefty challenge from beefy centre-back Mellberg on fellow Swede Freddie Ljungberg, during a 2002 World Cup training session, left both men grabbing for each other. Although tensions died down, another exchange of views between the two happened in a half-time bust-up in the 2006 World Cup – Sweden drew 0-0 with Trinidad and Tobago.