Wilson said: “Eddie [Howe] is good and he’s hard in his own way and in his own right but probably the toughest manager in terms of giving me a grilling, where I wasn’t happy with it but there’s not a lot I could do. I was young at the time, I was at Coventry, it was Steven Pressley. He was a Scotsman, fiery, he’d be on you straight away.

“I had Chris Coleman when I was coming up, I didn’t really experience him too much as my personal manager but he was a unit, one of those guys you wouldn’t mess with or back chat to. Chris Coleman was a unit. I was young at the time, he was a big manager, deep voice. He was a centre-half in his day, so he’s got a little bit, one of those managers you thought I wouldn’t mess with him.

“Ultimately, he’s [Coleman] the guy who gave me my first professional contract in football so always grateful for that. I always stayed on the right side of him being a youngster. But Steven Pressley was my first experience of a grilling from a manager.”

Pressley, who made 297 appearances for Hearts between 1998 and 2006, went on to manage sides including Fleetwood Town, Carlisle United and Falkirk as well as the Coventry City role.

Pressley’s time at Coventry City was marred by the club’s financial woes but the manager was praised for managing to maintain League One status despite a 10-point reduction and having to play home fixtures 34 miles away in Northampton.