I knocked out Wayne Rooney, but I would love to fight on the Misfits card against Paolo Di Canio, who kicked me out of training.

Phil Bardsley has set his sights on former manager Paolo Di Canio as his next opponent after eliminating Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney.

The former Sunderland right-back, who brought down the English icon during a playful kitchen In 2015, he was briefly coached by Di Canio at the Stadium of Light 11 years ago.

At the time of the arrival of the Italians, the Black cats They were locked in a relegation battle with Wigan in a fight to avoid finishing in the bottom three.

The Latics were eventually knocked out of the Premier League following a 4-1 defeat to Arsenal, just days after shocking Manchester City to win the FA Cup final.

It was a result that Bardsley It went on until the early hours of the morning, with a photo of him lying on the floor of a casino surrounded by £50 notes being rubbed together. From Canio Going up the wrong path.

Bardsley was subsequently suspended from the training ground and left out of the final squad to face Tottenham.

The ex United The defender has yet to forgive the West Ham cult hero and would welcome a showdown in rapper and YouTube star KSI's Misfits Boxing promotion. who have also contacted Rooney over a possible fight – to resolve their differences.

Appearing in The sports bar Joining presenter Majestic, Bardsley told talkSPORT: “I've actually had a few calls about doing Misfits.

“I would never say no, I think it would be good because it would give you a reason to train.

“I don't need a reason, but it's something to get me in shape instead of just working out in the morning.”

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When pressed on who his ideal opponent would be, Majestic questioned whether he would trade blows with Di Canio.

To which Bardsley replied: “Oh, I'd love to fight him, I hate that guy.”

He then proceeded to talk about his fallout with Di Canio and how their relationship soured after their night of celebration.

Bardsley commented: “He was right, but he was also wrong.

“We had a night out, I think Arsenal were playing Wigan, (when) there's alcohol involved, there's always a problem.

“Arsenal were playing Wigan. If Arsenal won, Wigan would be relegated and we would stay up, so we would all go to the pub to watch the game.

“We obviously had a good night, and I ended up a bit worse for wear in a casino with lobsters around me, £50 notes, I won a few quid, like an idiot.

“It was one of the most embarrassing things of my life, for sure. The day after we started training, we were probably all smelling of alcohol and excited because we stayed up.

“It's massive for the club, massive for the staff, we know how important it is financially for people to keep their jobs and redundancies and things like that, so we had a good night, we knew how important it was for everyone at the club.

“Obviously the photo was published, he (Di Canio) found out about the photo and he dragged me and Matt Kilgallon aside and just told us we were with the fitness trainer, and that was it really.

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“After that we didn't have much contact and I was kicked out of the training camp and had to train only at certain times.

“It was difficult because I had a lot of friends at the club, I was there seven years, the people meant a lot to me, I meant a lot to them, I did a lot for them off the pitch.

“So for them not to be able to see me every day was difficult, it was a very tough time in my career and a very tough time for them to see what I was like.”