Ben Davies / Ben Davies / 25 February 2010 / Leave a comment " class="free-bet-btn" rel="external" onclick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/G4/inline-freebet');" target="_blank">Free Bet View Market

The Notts County midfielder tells us about saying his goodbyes to Sven Goran Eriksson, supporting Villa at Wembley and missing out on the biggest game of his life.

"It was fantastic to have had the opportunity to work under one of the best coaches in the world. Not only was his football knowledge of an incredible pedigree, he was also one of the nicest men I have ever met. He really was a top bloke and his door was always open to us for whatever we needed."

Welcome to my Betfair column once more. My team mates and I are beginning to come to terms with losing our Director of Football Sven Goran Eriksson and are moving on in our quest to get promotion from League Two.

We were all gutted to learn that Sven and his assistant Tord Grip were going to be moving on and were no longer going to be a part of Notts County Football Club. All of the lads loved Sven and Tord and we were gutted when the former England boss came in to tell us that they were leaving. It was fantastic to have had the opportunity to work under one of the best coaches in the world. Not only was his football knowledge of an incredible pedigree, he was also one of the nicest men I have ever met. He really was a top bloke and his door was always open to us for whatever we needed. He wants to get straight back in to football and there will certainly be no shortage of offers. International teams such as Nigeria, North Korea and Norway are all set to make him an offer and according to reports this week, Juventus are also keen to speak to him. Whatever he decides to do, I wish him all the luck in the world and he deserves every success that will no doubt come his way.

It has been a painful week for myself on a personal note as I hurt my back in our midweek game last week against Grimsby Town. It went in to a spasm and I also strained my side. It has been agony and most of my spare time over the past week has been spent lying on the floor as the physio has banned me from sitting on chairs and sofas. I have just about been able to carry on through the pain but have not been able to train with the rest of the squad. This has meant plenty of ice baths and the agony of going through regular acupuncture sessions. Not nice. The pain has all been worth it though as I managed to score a last-gasp free kick in our game at the weekend against Aldershot and earn us a valuable point that has kept us in the play-off positions.

Injury is something that I and most footballers have to deal with and I have had my fair share. I have needed three operations so far in my career. The worst injury that I suffered was when I ruptured my achilles. The injury itself was bad and I was out for about six months, but the circumstances in which it happened were even worse. I sustained the injury in the last seconds of our play-off semi final second leg against M.K Dons. We won the game 2-1 and were on our way to Wembley. Well, that was what I thought at least. Just seconds before the referee blew his whistle I went up for a header but got a shooting pain in my calf as I pushed off. I landed on the floor as the final whistle went and there was a huge pitch invasion as I lay there in agony. I knew it was bad straight away and instead of having my suit fitted for the final I was having my Achilles operated on. That has been the lowest point of my career so far.

Speaking of finals, this weekend sees the Carling Cup Final between Aston Villa and Manchester United. As a Villa fan I cannot wait for the game. I went to watch us the last two times they reached Wembley in this very competition. They won both games and one of them was a 3-1 win against Manchester United. The other victory was against Leeds United in which (my now agent) Ian Taylor scored one of the goals. The occasion is very special and this one promises to be a very good contest. I think (hope!) that Aston Villa will win at [4.8] and the score will be 1-0 at [12.5]. With Rio Ferdinand missing through injury and Nemanja Vidic not fully fit I think Villa have got a good chance of winning the game. Gabby Agbonlahor is in the form of his life and Martin O'Neill has a great record in this competition so I am hoping that I and all the rest of the Villa fans will be celebrating this weekend.

Tags: Ben Davies, Carling Cup final, League two players, Notts County, Sven Goran Eriksson, Swedish football managers