BEN Davies admits a big part of his decision to sign for Derby County was down to Nigel Clough being manager.

Clough wanted to sign Davies last summer and Derby finally landed the attacking midfielder from Notts County this week for a fee believed to be around £350,000.

Davies, who is in the squad to face Nottingham Forest today, said: "Thanks to Derby and Nigel Clough for getting the deal over the line and to Notts for letting me go.

"Notts turned down two bids and after I had a couple of chats with (Notts boss) Paul Ince and the chairman, they did not want to stand in my way and I am thankful to them as well.

"The fact Derby County are managed by Nigel Clough was massive in persuading me to sign. It really wasn't a difficult decision to make.

"There had been interest from a couple of other clubs and people were saying maybe wait to the end of the transfer window and see but once this move came up, it was the club for me and the right manager."

Davies said all the transfer talk and speculation in the last few weeks had been unsettling.

"I had a some talks with Notts over the last couple of months about signing a new deal. I still had two years left on my contract but they said they wanted me to see that out and they weren't going to offer me a new deal. As soon as they said that and I knew Derby were interested, I knew it was time for me to move on," added Davies.

"It has been stressful, the last two weeks especially. The first few weeks I could put it to the back of my mind and carry on but as the momentum grew and grew it became a case of knowing the move was going to happen.

"While I was at Notts, I was fully committed to playing for them."

Davies scored eight goals for Notts this season and hit 24 in 80 appearances for the Magpies.

He is recognised for the quality of his set-pieces but he says there is more to him than free kicks.

"Set-pieces are a big part of my game but it is just a part of my game," he said.

"If look back at my record over the last couple of years, I think it is one of the best in the country for assists at set-pieces so people will talk about that but there is a lot more to my game."