Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has revealed a freak injury that nearly ended his career before it even started.
Gerrard initially shared the story in his autobiography, describing how he almost lost his toe to a garden fork when he was nine years old.
Now, speaking recently to Sky Sports, he's provided further detail on the incident and what saved his career.
“I was playing on a bit of waste ground, a bit of grass and the ball went into a nettle area with the shrubs," he said.
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“I’ve gone to kick the ball out and I kicked into a garden fork which went into my toe by a couple of inches.
“It was rusty and it got a bit infected and I had a few issues with it.
“They wanted to remove my toe but Liverpool at the time, as I was at the academy, or the centre of excellence as it was called back then.
“Steve Heighway stopped that procedure happening and we treated it conservatively in a different way."
Gerrard went on to have a glistening career at Anfield having won the Champions League with the club in 2005.
After beginning his coaching career with Liverpool's academy, Gerrard went on to manage Scottish side Ranger for three-and-a-half years.
He's now made the step up to the Premier League with Aston Villa and continued a positive start to his time at Villa Park with a 1-0 win over Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon.
