Stuart Urquhart football career in jeopardy after heart problem diagnosis

Former Dunfermline defender Stuart Urquhart has found his footballing future in jeopardy after being diagnosed with a heart problem.

The 20-year-old, who also had spells with Rangers and Coventry City, had felt short of breath near the end of last season with the Pars.

Urquhart, who played for Scotland Under-17s, found out that he had dilated cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle where it becomes stretched and thin, unable to pump blood around the body efficiently.

He told BBC Sport: "The best would be that it's just an illness I have picked up and hopefully I get a quick recovery. The worst case is that I'll maybe be a few years out of football.

"If I'm lucky enough and it does improve then I'll be over the moon. If not, I'll just need to deal with it."

Urquhart had reportedly attracted interest from Scottish Championship clubs after being released by Dunfermline prior to the diagnosis.