Stiliyan Petrov’s leukaemia discovered thanks to Fabrice Muamba

The Fabrice Muamba story took another remarkable twist as it was revealed that the tests put in place by Aston Villa after the Bolton player’s collapse led to the discovery of Stiliyan Petrov's cancer.

The football world is still reeling from the news that Aston Villa captain Petrov has acute leukaemia but the story of how it was discovered, thankfully quite early, is yet another incredible chapter in the Fabrice Muamba story.

In an interview in today’s Sun, Villa defender Carlos Cuellar reveals how the tests all players at the club underwent after Muamba’s collapse led directly to the cancer diagnosis for the Bugarian.

"Last Tuesday, after what happened to Muamba, experts came to our training ground to do tests on us and examine our hearts," Cuellar said.

"Two days later, we received the results and they communicated to Stan his symptoms of cancer.

"They wanted him to go to hospital for more tests to confirm the original diagnosis. At the beginning they didn't even tell him the truth directly and he didn't want to scare us either, with a game against Chelsea so close on Saturday.

"They had told him 'Yes it could be cancer but we need to do more tests'. So he didn't tell anyone but it's true his closest friends knew there was this possibility that it could be cancer."

The Spanish centre-half also spoke of how the news of Petrov’s cancer, plus Muamba’s illness, has hit the Villa dressing room hard.

"No one expected it, it caught us by surprise and left us in shock. Last week we were still affected by the situation of Fabrice Muamba - it affected us mentally and psychologically.

"So imagine if it is one of your intimate friends, a comrade with whom you've shared a dressing room for four years.

"My team-mates and I are deeply affected and very emotional but Stiliyan is the first to give us strength, trying to lift us so that we win as many games and points as we can. It's the only thing he asked of us."

It is going to be tough for Villa to deal with their captain's retirement but Bolton have managed to excel in the more trivial matter of football since Muamba's incident so Alex McLeish will hope his side can do the same.