Chelsea legend Petr Cech has been advising his rival for the first team shirt Thibaut Courtois, with the hope of helping him protect himself from further harm in the future, as reported by the Daily Star.

The Belgian international revealed that the former first choice wanted to ensure that he was safer in the future.

Courtois featured against Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday as the Blues won 2-1, the first game that he had played for the Stamford Bridge club since suffering a suspected concussion in a previous match.

Cech is well aware of the problems surrounding head injuries suffered by goalkeepers, having suffered a sickening clash in 2006 which fractured his skull.

Since that game, Cech has been forced to wear protective headgear, and does not want his replacement to suffer the same fate.

As a result, Courtois has revealed that Cech has been giving him advice, saying: “Petr sent me a message after the Arsenal game and later he told me that in the Premier League maybe some strikers really go against the keepers.

“He said maybe sometimes it is better to protect your head to go down quicker and with your back or your shoulder protecting your head.

“That was a tip he gave me and it’s good because, when you come into a new league sometimes things are different than in Spain so it’s good to know that.

“Is it more physical here? Yeah. In Spain there is more organisation, maybe more football, while here maybe some teams are going quicker with the long ball and rushing it to the front.

“But it depends on the team you are playing against. But I think the difference is maybe it is more physical.

“Maybe the referees don’t whistle as quickly as they do in Spain.”