The Chelsea skipper praises the Reds manager, who previously managed the Blues’ reserves and academy, for his help while working under former coach Jose Mourinho

Chelsea captain John Terry has praised Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, enthusing that he always knew that the Ulsterman would be a coaching success.

The now-Reds boss took charge of the Blues’ reserve side and academy between 2004 and 2008 before departing to start his career as a first-team manager.

“I know Brendan very well,” Terry told reporters. “He is a great manager and was brilliant for me and some of the other players. I can only speak highly of him.

“There were many ways he helped me. When Jose [Mourinho] was there, he was always around. A couple of times I was left out of the side or injured and he’d pull me to one side. He did a nice little video of me scoring goals, making tackles and had a 15-20 minute chat with me.

“At the time it was something nobody had ever done and it just goes to show his man-management and how well he’s doing and how well he’ll do in the future.

“It’s little things like that which, as a player, really give you a boost when you’re down. He was a real gentleman.

“I was 100 per cent sure [he would make it as a manager]. He was around quite a lot, fed off Jose and obviously learnt a lot from him.

“You could see he had it in him to go on – his mannerisms around the players, he had a great rapport with the players at the training ground on a daily basis.”