Stiliyan Petrov: "Support has been incredible"

Stiliyan Petrov has admitted that the support he has been given since being diagnosed with acute leukaemia has been "incredible" and reveals that his recovery is going well.

The 34-year-old has spent 18 months being treated for the disease and claims that he has been helped through the difficult times by the footballing world.

"Physically I am okay," Petrov told Goals on Sunday. "Obviously I went through a very intensive treatment for a year. At the moment I am in maintenance on tablets and every three months I am having a little bout of chemo - I can say little because I have seen big ones as well. So far everything is going well.

"It was okay in the first three months I was still fit and okay. But after that it was here we go. There were side effects and everything else.

"There were some tough times. But I had a lot of support from all the football world, my friends and my family. The support has been incredible."

Petrov played for both Celtic and Aston Villa during his time in Britain.