Damien Duff has revealed the true extent of the horror injury which at one point had threatened to curtail his football career.

The 28-year-old hobbled from the field at Portsmouth back in April with what, at the time, appeared to be no more than a fairly innocuous ankle knock.

But further examination revealed that Duff had suffered a dislocation in the middle of his foot - news which the player admits forced him to break down in tears.

Indeed, the surgeon who operated on the Irish winger said that he had never seen such an injury happen to a professional footballer.

And, in an exclusive interview with Newcastle World TV, Duff spoke of his shock when he discovered the extent of his problem.

"It was devastating," said the former Chelsea and Blackburn ace.

"You should have seen me when I first found out in the surgeon's office, I broke down in tears.

"It was a dislocation in the middle of my foot and the surgeon said he had never seen it on a footballer before and that was a shock."

Duff returned to full training with his Newcastle team-mates last week but says that it's too early to talk of a specific comeback date.

"It's great to be back training with the lads and I've started my second week," he added.

"You take things for granted and being out for so long has made me appreciate things an awful lot more.

"It's too soon to pin-point a game. It was a horrendous injury. I was the only footballer to ever get it.

"It's a case of taking things one day at a time because I've had my foot up all summer.

"We'll be looking at a couple of reserve games first but hopefully it won't be too long before I'm back."