St Mirren ace Greg Tansey feared for his career after op

St Mirren midfielder Greg Tansey has revealed there was a time when he thought would never kick another football again professionally.

The 30-year-old suffered from a rare bone disease called Osteomyelitis which limited his Aberdeen career to just nine appearances in two years. 

And the Liverpudlian has admitted there were days when could not even get out of bed. 

He said: “When I was at Aberdeen, I had a bit of groin pain during the pre-season. I got through it at the time, every player plays with knocks. I played the first six or seven league games and then I had the operation. I went to a private clinic - they opened me up, left the hernia in there and put the mesh in the wrong place by 6cm. 

"They injected me with a steroid which lasts for about four weeks, so I actually felt great for that period. I wanted to get back because I had just signed for Aberdeen. I love Inverness but with all due respect to them, this was a step up. When you go into a new job, you obviously want to do as well as you possibly can. 

Tansey up against former side Aberdeen

“I’m feeling healthy now. I still have the odd aches and pains here and there, but overall I’m feeling more like myself. I’ve played a couple of games since coming back now and I’m feeling sharp in training. There’s still a little bit of pain in certain areas, but it’s nothing that I’m not willing to play through. There were some really long days. Not being able to get out of bed for two full days was probably the worst.”

Tansey makes the candid admission that he lived a pretty lonely life in the Granite City - so much so that there were even suggestions on social media that he even had an alcohol problem. 

Those rumours forced the former Inverness man to take a step back from all social media platforms, which made it difficult for him to communicate with friends and family - even his parents. 

He continued: ‘It’s your worst nightmare. As footballers, we’re in a very privileged position. But when you can’t play and compete, it’s a very lonely existence. I was living on my own in Aberdeen. I ended up painting my house actually, just for something to do. There were rumours going around on Twitter that I had a problem with alcohol and that I was drinking too much. Honestly, I would have been delighted to even be able to walk into the pub for a pint. I could hardly move.”

"Aberdeen wanted to deal with it in-house. They realised it was a sensitive subject because of what happened with the first operation and they dealt with it properly because they’re a classy club. 

"I came off Twitter for a while. It was hard for my Mum and Dad because they always like reading my stuff and seeing pictures of me on social media to keep in touch."

Now, back playing every weekend with the Saints, Tansey is looking forward to being talked about on Soccer Saturday rather than watching it.

READ MORE: Greg Tansey blasts Hearts ace after serving two match ban

He added: "I can’t thank everyone at St Mirren enough. They’ve been first-class with me from the minute I walked through the door, looking after me and sorting me out with getting a flat and things like that.It’s nice to finally get back out there playing on a Saturday. I was sick of Jeff Stelling to be honest.”