Aston Villa captain, Stiliyan Petrov has spoken of his joy at coming through the first stage of his cancer treatment.
In an interview with the club’s official website, the 33-year-old thanked the fans for their continual support during his illness and underlined his desire to make the most of life now that he is on the road to recovery.
Petrov was diagnosed with acute leukaemia in March last year and had to begin treatment immediately. He refused to retire and was added to the club roster this season and he is still considered club captain despite his armband being passed on to Ron Vlaar.
In August of last year it was announced that he was in remission.
The Bulgarian international is now looking forward to coming out of chemotherapy and getting back to normal.
“It was a very, very long year but now, after all this treatment, I can go back to a normal life. I can start doing things that I couldn’t do in the last year. I can take the kids to school, I can come here, I can start doing a bit of work and losing a little bit of weight,” he said.
It was suggested last month that Villa were set to offer him a coaching role with the club and that could very well be a possibility now as he nears the end of his career anyway.
Villa fans continue to perform a 19th minute applause at all games and will continue to do so indefinitely.