Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has hailed Jose Mourinho's influence on him in the early years of his career.

The 40-year-old Northern Irishman worked at Chelsea as a youth-team coach and then as a manager of the reserves during Mourinho's first spell in charge at Stamford Bridge.

"I probably wouldn't be sitting here now if it wasn't for him," ESPN quotes Rodgers as saying. "When I speak about Jose, I think of him as a friend. When I first met him in September 2004 to discuss the possibility of me taking a job at Chelsea, we hit it off straight away.

"He gave me the self-esteem and confidence to be a manager, and the one thing I really learned from him was the importance of the details. When he was manager at Chelsea the first time, I used to stand at the back of the room during press conferences.

"I wanted to see how he dealt with the media - obviously much better than me. At that time, I was preparing for the possibility that one day I would manage. And I learned from a top operator."

Rodgers will come up against Mourinho on Sunday when Chelsea host Liverpool in the Premier League.