A FORMER North-East football captain caught speeding at 90mph on the motorway has pleaded hardship in an attempt to avoid a driving ban.

Ex-Sunderland and Middlesbrough midfielder Dean Whitehead was clocked on the westbound carriageway of the M62, near Bradford, West Yorkshire, on February 3 this year.

Saf Salam, representing Whitehead at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates' Court on Thursday, applied for an adjournment so the footballer's hardship argument could be put together.

Former Black Cats skipper Whitehead, who already has nine penalty points on his driving licence, had already pleaded guilty to the offence by post.

The 33-year-old, who played in the Premier League for Sunderland and Stoke City, was chauffeur-driven away from the court in a silver Chrysler after magistrates adjourned his case.

Cheshire-based Whitehead joined Championship side Huddersfield Town following his release from Middlesbrough in the summer.

Mr Salam said: "He lives in Knutsford and is employed and works in Huddersfield.

"There would be difficulties with regards to him travelling, due to the hours he works and lengths he has to travel."

Mr Salam said Whitehead was a family man with two young children, and added: "Where he lives and works, together with where his children go to school, the suggestion is that hardship would be caused to Mr Whitehead and those around him."

The Crown Prosecution Service made no objection to the case being adjourned.

Whitehead, of Knutsford, Cheshire, signed a two-year contract at Huddersfield in June. He has played in each of their four games this season.

He started his career at Oxford United in 1999, before joining Sunderland in 2004. He was named in the PFA's Championship Team of the Year for the 2006/2007 season, and made more than 200 appearances for the Stadium of Light outfit, before signing for Stoke in 2009 for £5million, where he earned an FA Cup runner-up medal in 2011.

Four years later he joined Middlesbrough, spending two seasons there before joining Huddersfield.

While at Boro, Whitehead was part of the side that shocked Manchester City in the FA Cup fourth round, winning 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium in January.

Whitehead will next appear at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates Court on October 5, two days after Huddersfield visit Wolverhampton Wanderers for a live televised Championship fixture.