Aston Villa ace Bertrand Traore has opened up on his difficult relationship with Steven Gerrard.
The winger, 27, worked with Gerrard at the Premier League club but admitted he was dropped to the under-23 squad in a "frustrating" period at Villa.
Traore - who was shipped out to Istanbul Basaksehir on loan - has stated that he had "trouble" with Gerrard before he was sacked and replaced by Unai Emery.
The forward has been back involved for Villa in recent months after overcoming a knee injury sustained in Turkey. And Traore has thanked Emery for giving him a chance after his turbulent time under Gerrard.
Detailing his time under the former Rangers boss, Traore told the Sun: “Some things I can’t control like injuries and other things.
"Under the previous manager I was pulled out of the first-team squad and went training for two weeks with the under-23s before I went out on loan. It was really frustrating for me.
“But that is behind me now and I am just focused on what I have to do on the pitch to try to help the team and give love to the fans.
“It feels good for me now because I travelled a lot the last two seasons with a lot of injuries and had some trouble with the previous manager."
He added: "The new manager gave me a new chance. I came back from my loan injured and had to work hard to get fit and then the team was doing well.
“I have to work hard to get back in the team but I think I am in a good place and will keep on working hard.
"This manager knows about me from before when I played against his teams a lot of times.
"He believes in me and I think he is on my side and I want to give back so he doesn’t believe in me for nothing.”
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