Grimsby defender Josh Emmanuel has opened up on the mystery illness that couldn’t just have cost him his career but also so much more.
Thankfully, the 25-year-old is now fighting fit and healthy again, and already producing the kind of form he showed in the Championship with Hull before his enforced break. And he cannot wait to test himself against Kaoru Mitoma on Sunday afternoon as the Mariners take on Brighton in the FA Cup quarter-finals, and show he can still operate at a much higher level than League Two.
Grimsby are in the last eight after a shock victory over Southampton and Emmanuel sees no reason why they can’t claim another scalp. But as excited as he is about the game, there will of course be a sense of perspective whatever the outcome after he missed more than a year of football because of the blood clot which caused him to collapse during a training session with the Tigers.
