The situation with former Manchester United player Jaap Stam who has been suspended for failing a drug test in Italy has been concerning me over the past week.

You may have read that Stam, who was sold to Lazio some time ago by United, tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone after a Serie A game against Atalanta on October 13.

The results were only revealed last week and as a result he was banned from all sporting activity with immediate effect.

The worrying thing for me, and for many other professional footballers, is that I don't think for one minute he would have started taking anything different in the form of vitamins or dietary supplements than he had been taking while at Manchester United.

He is about 29-years-old and at his age I just don't think he would be trying anything new.

If I am correct, then that means whatever he took, and I don't believe he would have taken it knowingly, could well have shown up if he had been tested while playing in the Premier League.

It also means that many other players could be taking the same vitamins or supplements and running the risk of unwittingly testing positive.

In today's football world nearly all teams employ physiotherapists, dieticians and other experts within the club and as a player you take their advice blindly, 100 percent.

They say 'you have a knock, take two of these tablets today, two tomorrow, two the day after and it will clear up the inflammation'. As a player you take them and you don't question what they are or what's in them.

In England we have random drugs tests where your name is drawn out of a hat after a game.

So what concerns me is that if you give them your urine sample and then it shows up positive, what then?

You know you haven't purposely taken any banned or illegal substance. You know the doctor has given you tablets to clear up inflammation on their knee for example but because you don't question them you don't know what's in them. You just take their word for it because you know they know drug tests are done and that is as far as it goes.

Once the tests are taken the physio can wash his hands of things and say 'as far as I know that drug doesn't have anything in it. You want to go and call the company that manufactures them.'

Everyone can pass the buck, but at the end of the day even if you are found not guilty it's your name and your image that has been tarnished.

In a way while I am sorry for Stam, I am glad the situation has arisen because it has made me decide to question everything from now on.

I think players are going to have to take responsibility and ask about everything that is given to them. They may even have to go a step further and ask which company provides it, call them up and say 'I have to take this tablet, is it illegal or would this show up positive in a test?'

As it is, getting treatment for injuries and so forth is a bit of a minefield, there are so many things that would show up positive and therefore we cannot take.

For example, there are lots of things that we cannot take for colds that people wouldn't dream of. I can't take Vicks cough medicine when I have got a cold because it contains a substance that athletes are prevented from using. So whereas the average person can go down to the nearest chemist and take this stuff whenever they want I, in a sense, have to suffer.

For the administrators a drug is a drug, whether it's Vicks cough medicine or whether it's nandrolone it will show up on their test as a positive. While I am concerned about the testing I am also strongly in favour of them being carried out on a more regular basis.

I am told that in Italy they test everyone and that is probably how Stam came to give a positive sample there and why he never did in all his time at United.

From my perspective, I have been here 13 years and I have had just three tests. As far as I am concerned the number of tests should be far greater so that those players who are knowingly crossing the line are uncovered.

Because the financial rewards are so high these days players are pushing themselves more and more. They are taking all sorts of vitamins and minerals to enhance their performance because if you are fitter you can play better - it's that simple.

Players are pushing themselves and clubs are wanting those players to be at their peak at all times.

Nowadays you hear players talking about dieticians and what they should be eating before a game. In the old days it used to be steak and eggs but its now its rice, pasta, potatoes and those sorts of things.

If they want not only to get in the team but to stay in it, reap the financial rewards and reach the top and when there stay there, there are players who might be coerced into taking something illegal.That is something I would never do and I would have no sympathy for anyone at Manchester City who took anything. Not when they are earning the money that they are these days.

As I said earlier, I will be doing my utmost to make sure that if and when I am tested I have not taken anything I shouldn't have.

I am going to get a list from the physio and then whenever I take anything I will be monitoring whether it is an illegal substance or not and going from there. The onus is on the player. Excuse my French but at the end of the day it's your urine and your name that is on the bottle.