An emotional David Marshall has detailed the 'horrendous' sense of loss he felt after the death of his best friend and fellow Cardiff City great Peter Whittingham.
Whittingham, a bona fide City legend, tragically passed away at the age of just 35 after suffering a head injury following an incident at a Barry pub on March 7.
The news, which was confirmed on March 19, rocked not only Cardiff City Football Club but the wider football community, with streams of tributes pouring in from former team-mates and colleagues.
A man whose gifts with the ball at his feet were matched by the dryness of his wit off it, Whittingham was quite clearly a person who affected the lives of all supporters who admired him from afar as well as the close friends he held so dear.
Marshall was one of those friends.
The Wigan goalkeeper, whose seven-year stint with the Bluebirds coincided with Whittingham, has described the former midfielder as his best friend and has detailed the pain of not being able to attend the funeral or even visit the family.
"We lost Pete maybe the first week of lockdown," a visibly distraught Marshall told talkSPORT.
"So at that stage you are speaking to a few people and telling them you'll be down to Cardiff in a few weeks to catch up with friends and family, the usual thing people would expect to do when you lose someone, to help them get through.
"Then, obviously, I've not had that chance. The funeral passed without me being able to go.
"It's just been a really hard one to process, not being able to go down there at all has been the toughest thing, to see the family.
"It's been really tough, nowhere near as tough for me as it has been for his wife and his family, but I'm hoping to get down pretty soon and see some people and just remember.
"It was a horrendous time - it's never a good time - but at the start of lockdown it was really difficult.
"Somebody that you really, really miss. My best friend in football - my best friend, anyway - a real miss.
"Just because this virus and everything, I don't think it's sunk in. Not until we get down to Cardiff and see the family."
Whittingham is widely regarded as one of the finest players ever to play for the Bluebirds, having enjoyed a hugely successful 10-year spell in the Welsh capital.
The former midfielder turned out more than 450 times for Cardiff between 2007 and 2017, scoring 96 goals in the process.
He will go down as a club hero, a man supporters adored perhaps more than any other player of his generation.
