Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois says his volleyball background has helped his football.

Courtois dislodged the long-serving Cech as Jose Mourinho's first-choice keeper at the start of the season after three impressive years on loan at Atletico Madrid.

He revealed: "Because I played volleyball I had good reflexes and I liked to dive, so sometimes I went in goal when we rotated."

And Courtois admits it took him a while to realise he was best off between the sticks.

He added: "I won the best goalkeeper award at a couple of tournaments and the idea grew that maybe I had more future as a goalkeeper than a defender.

"When we started to play 11 against 11 on a big pitch - I was probably 10 or 11 years old - I was pretty much always in goal, but if there were injuries I could fill in outfield."