Christian Eriksen has opened up on his 'wonderful' return to football after fears he would never play again.
The attacking midfielder, 30, suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch while playing for Denmark at Euro 2020 and was released by his club Inter Milan - as Italian football has strict rules about allowing players to return to football with heart problems.
But Eriksen - now with a defibrillator in his chest to prevent another collapse - can play in the Premier League and joyously rejoined competitive football on Saturday, coming on as a substitute for Brentford in their 2-0 home defeat against Newcastle.
He said: 'Take away the result and I am one happy man. To have been through what I've been through, with my family, to be back here is a wonderful and I'm just happy that it's happened.
'I've been speaking to him (manager Thomas Frank) every day for the last few weeks so obviously he knew what was going on and I knew what was going to happen. He just said 'good luck and enjoy the game'.
'You can never predict the game. No one would have predicted we would have been down to ten men after ten minutes. It completely changed our game plan and made it difficult.
'But the guys did what they could. It was a big fight and we were unlucky in the end.'
The hosts were hindered by midfielder Josh Dasilva's red card 11 minutes in, with Joelinton and Joe Willock adding goals at the end of the first half to give Newcastle a lead they would not relinquish.
And Magpies boss Eddie Howe added: 'It was an amazing moment and you felt the emotion in the stadium.
'I was absolutely focused in that moment on trying to win the game, but even I broke away and sent my best to him as he entered the pitch.'
Brentford currently lie 15th in the top-flight, three points clear of 18th-placed Burnley but having played three more games than the Clarets, and will hope marquee signing Eriksen can help steer them clear of the relegation zone and keep them up.