Former Bristol City defender Joe Bryan has explained signing for Fulham ahead of Aston Villa.

Bryan has set the record straight about how he came within 15 minutes of signing for Aston Villa before making his deadline day move to Fulham.

He laughed: “I went to Aston Villa, I did the medical, I'd signed nothing. I hadn't had any photos. I hadn't had a steak dinner with Steve Bruce and he didn't chase me down the motorway.

“I read a tweet that said I'd left him in the middle of a dinner after playing a round of golf with him. I don't play golf and I don't eat steak.

“I got a call that Fulham had an offer accepted while I was at Villa and I said 'I want to play in the Premier League, I can't turn down this opportunity.'

“This was after the medical had occurred. I hadn't signed a contract or anything tying me to Villa. So I said to the manager [Steve Bruce] that I needed a couple of hours to think.

“Then we got back to the hotel and in my heart I knew I wanted to play in the Premier League. But I was probably 15, 20 minutes away from signing for Villa."