West Brom's Dara O'Shea credits Branislav Ivanovic for helping his progression

The Champions League winner was in the twilight of his career when he arrived at The Hawthorns ahead of the 2020/21 campaign.

And on the pitch he struggled for form and fitness as the Baggies grappled with life in the Premier League.

Off the pitch, though, the Serbian had a huge impact – with Ivanovic acting as a mentor to a host of senior and younger players.

One of those players was fellow centre-back Dara O’Shea, a man Steve Bruce recently tipped to be a future Albion captain.

And the 23-year-old believes he improved significantly by working with Ivanovic.

“He (Ivanovic) helped me with little bits of how I played and the mental side of the game,” O’Shea told The Lord’s My Shep-Pod podcast.

“When I was getting left out or taken off in some games, he was always there with an arm-around.

“He would talk to me and when he speaks you listen. Coming from him, a player who has won so much, I think everyone should look up to him because he’s won so much.

“He’d been there, done it and played at the highest level.

“And if that’s not what you want as a footballer then you’re probably in the wrong game.

“He was an honest human being and honesty is the main thing.

“He would say things how they were, he wouldn’t say what you wanted to hear, he’d say what you needed to hear.

“That’s what you want, you want to be spoken to as an adult especially as a young lad coming up.

“You don’t want be mollycoddled and told your great. You want to be told straight. And he’d tell you.”

O’Shea used to get changed next to three-time Premier League winner Ivanovic in the dressing room.

“He was top class, a top class pro, a top class human being,” the Republic of Ireland international continued. “In the changing room he’d be sitting there and someone would ask him a question.

“And he would just start telling these stories. Normally you get lads coming in and out, in and out.

“But everybody who was in that room wouldn’t leave until he’d finished his story.

“The stories he had, the career he’s had, the amount or respect people had for him here was crazy.

“Every time he spoke, you listened. I loved everything about him. He’s a great guy and so funny, you wouldn’t believe how funny he is.

“He was at the top of the game.

“He has won so much and we were so lucky for him to come in for a season and be here.”

O’Shea said it wasn’t just in the dressing room where Ivanovic commanded respect.

“You can never underestimate having a player like that in the changing room,” he said.

“The changing room is such a powerful place in football and you can lose a changing room so easily.

“Having people like him who can spread their knowledge, it’s great for the group – especially the younger lads.

“But he treated everyone with the same level of respect, the players, the physios, the coaches, the dinner ladies. Everyone was the same to him.

“And his general mood, he wasn’t moping even though he didn’t play as much as he would have liked.

“He knew he was coming to the end of his career.

“But he showed he cared about us and he wanted us to improve.

“He didn’t just come in and go home. He was professional and wanted to help. I was like a sponge around him.”