Paul Gascoigne has told Sky Sports News he thought he was going to die in a rehabilitation clinic and takes full responsibility for his alcoholism. The former England star was being treated in Arizona during a two-month stay as he fought against his latest personal problems.

"I don't know if I'm going to touch a drink again. I just know that I'm not drinking today," he told Sky Sports News on Wednesday.

"I always remember lying on my bed and hearing the doctor saying, 'I don't think this guy is going to make it'.

"I panicked and got off the bed and said, 'please don't let us die. I need to water my plants' and boom I was out of it."

However, he insisted his health was improving and the biggest issue facing him now was cutting out destructive "binges".

"I'm much better now, coming up to six weeks. Over 11 years, I've only drunk for four months of it. Just five little binges. I've got to stop them binges.

"I've just got to stop picking up a drink. The press, what they wrote, it pulled me out of myself and it will hopefully help other alcoholics, seeing how close I was to passing away. Hopefully my story can help them."