Aston Villa midfielder Barry Bannan is counting his blessings after surviving a motorway car crash this year.

He confessed his conviction for drink driving reduced mum Kath to an emotional wreck as she struggled to cope with her son's dramatic fall from grace.

Bannan said: "The time in the cells was the worst bit. You just sit there thinking of what happened, what you should have done, what damage you could have done. That will be the thing I remember most.

"Yet in some ways I was so lucky. What if there was another car involved, or if I did something to myself or my mate in the car.

"You wake up and feel lucky because I might not have been here or could have taken someone else's life. It still goes through my head.

"You can put a brave face on it but then when you go back home and start to think about it again.

"I really can't think what it would have been like if I was in jail over Christmas."