Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish has revealed that club captain Stiliyan Petrov spoke to the players as a group before the weekend's 4-2 loss Chelsea.
The Bulgarian midfielder was diagnosed with acute leukaemia on Friday, which was a major shock to he, his family, Villa and the wider football community, with plenty of support coming from clubs around the UK during matches on Saturday and Sunday.
Today, the 32-year old begins treatment on his condition but that daunting task did not stop him from addressing the Villa team with McLeish confident he will overcome this massive obstacle.
"It was typical of him (to get up in front of the team). He is a leader, and he says he will battle through it, and those are the kind of words we would expect to hear from Stiliyan.
"We believe he's got the best possible chance of help at the moment, with the specialists he's got now. Hopefully the support will boost him and give him positivity - I know that can help people in their recovery.""Stan is a determined guy and has said he will fight it and beat it," said McLeish.
