West Ham United boss Gianfranco Zola insists he holds no grudge against Chelsea counterpart Carlo Ancelotti.

When Ancelotti took over at Parma, he played Zola out of position before eventually dumping him on the transfer list.

But it was a blessing in disguise as he moved to Chelsea and became a Stamford Bridge legend.

Zola said: "It was one of the lowest points of my career. I had invested a lot of emotions into Euro 96 with the Italy team and it didn't go well. It affected me a great deal.

"The first three months at Parma were not very good at all and my confidence levels were very low. Ancelotti was good to me and I couldn't find a way to react in that situation. I wanted to have another experience so I don't blame him.

"I was just going through a bad time. Maybe at that moment it wasn't Gianfranco Zola - it was his twin brother. Sometimes there are moments where you need to change and I needed a new challenge.

"When the Chelsea opportunity came along it proved to be one of the best choices of my career. It was fantastic."