Former Liverpool striker Michael Ngoo has bravely opened up on his battle with depression after an injury ruled him out for two years.
Ngoo had made just a handful of appearances for Kilmarnock when a horror tackle from Virgil van Dijk, who was at Celtic at the time, left him needing two surgeries to screw the bones back together in his ankle.
The injury ended his career in Scotland, with the striker eventually having short spells with Bromley and then Oldham before leaving the UK to find regular football elsewhere.
"I wasn't just injured physically – I was psychologically shattered, as well," recalled Ngoo, in an interview with Planet Football.
"Before I had my first operation, the specialist said to me that if my rehab did not go to plan then I would not play professional football again. He made that clear. I went through a very bad time.
"I was stressed and reflecting on what I should do because I thought that I might not be able to kick a ball again."
Ngoo, who joined Liverpool as a youth player in 2009 and trained at the club before having loan spells at Hearts, Yeovil and Walsall, signed a permanent deal with Kilmarnock in 2014.
He was making his sixth appearance when he was injured against Celtic.
He said to the Daily Mail in 2014: "I told our physio right away that van Dijk had tried to do me.
"Before the tackle, there were a few words said between us. Then he came through the back of me. I think it was deliberate."
At the time Ngoo was very angry with Van Dijk.
But Ngoo later forgave the Netherlands international, saying: "Van Dijk apologised through John Guidetti, a friend of mine, who was on loan at Celtic at the time.
"The damage had been done, but I don't hold any grudges."
Ngoo joined Albanian side Tirana in 2017 but left this year to represent Enosis Neon Paralimni in Cyprus.
