Ryan Bertrand won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2012 and spoke of how Billy Davies inspired him in what was the biggest achievement of his career.

The left-back made his Champions League debut in the final and he remembered one key bit of advice that his former Nottingham Forest boss gave him.

Bertrand was on loan at the Tricky Trees for one season back in 2010 and he learnt a lot under Davies.

Speaking on the Business of Sport podcast, the former England international was set to play in the biggest game of his life and he thought back to what Davies told him that calmed his nerves for the occasion:

“So, I’ll be in the Champions League final and all I’m thinking about is Billy Davies. He used to say, this was playing against Derby, and we played them, so it’s a big game there.

“I think we beat them 5-2 or something, but before the game he was just walking around the dressing room saying ‘play the game and not the occasion’, just walking around saying ‘play the game not the occasion’, and funnily enough when I was at that Champions League [final] when I was getting ready that’s all I could think of.

“So, when I’m hearing the Champions League soundtrack and stuff which is amazing, and having that realisation of what this echo of just play this game, it’s just another game.”

The 35-year-old was asked by the host if Davies’ advice worked on the night and he responded:

“It did, it did. It actually worked alright playing against for example [Arjen] Robben was there and no matter how dangerous he was, I had that repetition against him when I was 16 because the more you play against a player, the more you become familiar with them.”

Davies has returned to the game and is Greenock Morton’s new Technical Head Coach and will support Dougie Imrie on what promises to be an exciting season for the Ton.