Sean Boyd reveals Jose Mourinho’s glowing praise for Damien Duff in message to Shelbourne squad

Damien Duff called on his former Chelsea manager to offer a few motivational words before his side sealed the title in the Brandywell, and Boyd has elaborated on the content of Mourinho's video address that was screened at their pre-match meeting.

He explained that Mourinho paid tribute to Duff's commitment and urged the Shelbourne players to follow in his example.

"He was talking about the manager (Duff) and who he was as a player," said Boyd, speaking at a LOI Central live podcast.

"He said 'Youse have a man in front of you who I had as a player, who didn't want to be a star but did everything he could to be as good as he could, he would have played through pain. If you take an inch of what the manager gave me as a player, and put that that into a performance, then no matter what happens, if you win the league or you don't, you can look at yourself after the game and think I'm a champion'

"But then he said 'If you put them all together and do all these things, ten times out of ten you're going to be champions anyway.' It was a nice message, a lovely message."

Boyd also detailed how former Shelbourne player Stuart Byrne got onto the team bus ahead of their drive home and delivered a passionate message praising them for their efforts. It's understood that players were also made aware of a message sent by Roy Keane to Duff to pass on congratulations.

Full podcast below