Ryan Bertrand: I had to leave Chelsea because my career wasn't progressing

Arsenal’s Miyaichi is challenged by Chelsea’s Bertrand

Aston Villa loanee Ryan Bertrand has taken a sly dig at Jose Mourinho and accused him of hindering his progression while at Chelsea.

The left-back, who started in the Champions League final in 2012, joined Aston Villa on-loan earlier this month after falling out of favour at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho.

He had fallen so far down the pecking order that Mourinho chose to play a right-back in his position, just to avoid playing Bertrand. He knew he had to leave when that started happening.

“I have always looked for progression in my career,” he said.

“Since I was back at Chelsea after being on loan for so long I have gone from 15 games to 20 odd to 30 odd. I couldn’t see that progression again this season.

“As soon as the alarm bells started to ring I knew I needed to fix it.

“Personally we’ve never had any falling outs or anything but at the same time I’ve never had many reassurances so I thought it’s in my hands now, let me take it into my own hands and get out on loan and start to play my football again.

“He’s in a job, he’s in a profession and you just have to be professional at all times.”

Bertrand made his Villa debut in the 2-2 draw at Anfield with Liverpool last weekend and is expected to remain Paul Lambert’s first-choice left-back for the remainder of the season.