End of the road for Piper
26 Jul 2007 - 13:11:34
Mansfield Town winger Matt Piper has been forced to retire at the age of 25 after failing to recover from a serious knee injury.
The former Leicester City and Sunderland star had been attempting a comeback with the Stags after being sidelined for almost two years and being forced to endure no fewer than 11 operations.
"Matty has rung me to tell me he's going to retire which is a big blow to the lad," manager Billy Dearden told the Mansfield Chad.
"He's not looked out of place in training and has made one or two sit up. But he's been in tremendous pain after every session.
"I'm very disappointed for him as, to even try to make a comeback after so many operations at only 25, took tremendous courage."