Ola Aina: Nigerian defender reveals what he learnt from John Terry

Ola Aina and John Terry were both at Chelsea , but now play in the English Championship

Nigerian defender Ola Aina has revealed what he learnt from former Chelsea skipper John Terry.

Aina who came through the ranks at Chelsea revealed that John Terry has always given him confidence as a player.

The right back revealed his admiration for Terry in an interview with his parent club official website.

He said, “It was a good day. JT (John Terry) came over to me before the game, gave me a hug, congratulated me on my move and told me to enjoy the season and play well. He has always given me confidence and it was good to see him.”

Aina and Terry were part of the Chelsea team that won the 2016/17 English Premier League, said it is good to play against the Chelsea legend in the English Championship.

 

He said, “Playing against JT (now at Aston Villa) was a bit surreal, because whenever I had seen him on the other side of the pitch it was in a training game!”

“Seeing him in different colours and not on the same team as me was weird, but it was good to challenge myself up against him.”

Ola Aina is excited to play for Nigeria

The Nigeria international also talked about choosing to represent the Super Eagles, despite playing for the English age grade teams earlier in his career.

Aina also spoke about his debut for Nigeria in the 2018 World Cup qualifying match against Zambia, and later in the friendly match against Argentina.

He said, “My full debut was away to Algeria. We had already qualified for the World Cup so I wasn’t really nervous, but it was good to get out there and play.”

 

He revealed that it is an honour to wear the green and white of Nigeria as the country has passionate football supporters.

“The fans are so passionate and it’s a big honour to represent them. The country is football mad and you feel that just putting on the shirt.”

Aina is on loan at Championship Outfit Hull City from Chelsea and is expected to be called up by Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr for the friendly matches against Poland Serbia.