Stewart Downing says he will never forget what Kenny Dalglish did for him.

Winger Downing was signed from Aston Villa in the summer of 2011 for £20million and although his time at Anfield did not really work out as he would have liked, the 31-year-old is still extremely grateful to Dalglish for taking a chance on him.

"I played for a very good manager in Kenny Dalglish, he was very good to me. I'll never forget what he did to get me to that club," the Middlesbrough star told BBC Tees.

"When I was speaking to Kenny, I was thinking 'this is mad, £20m for me to go there', but it put a lot of pressure on Kenny because he spent big that summer. I went to Aston Villa and said to them 'this is Kenny Dalglish and Liverpool football club, you have to let me go' and they were okay about it."

Downing left Merseyside to join West Ham United in 2013 after two years and 91 appearances for the Reds prior to his return to Boro this summer.