Sunderland striker Nicklas Bendtner feared his career could have been over when he sustained a fractured eye socket last month.
The Denmark international, on loan from Arsenal, was caught in the eye by a stray Angel Rangel boot against Swansea City and at the time he feared he may have lost his vision in one eye which would have prematurely forced him out of the game.
"But your eyes - they are the most important thing, and when I realised what had happened, my first thought was: 'I'm blind!'. At first, I couldn't open the eye or see out of it at all. Eventually, when I could open the eye, all I could see was redness, so it was a real worry wondering if that would go away.
"The medical staff did really well. They got an eye specialist in straight away and I needed injections in the injury to settle things down. It was not good. I feared the worst - if you can only use one eye, your career is finished.
"The mask enables me to play though, now and I'm glad that I did because scoring in the derby on Sunday was a special moment in what was one of the most intense matches of my career.""I don't mind getting kicked because that's part and parcel of the game. You can get away with a broken nose, or broken jaw - that will heal," Bendtner, who now wears a protective face mask, told the Sunderland Echo.
