ACCRINGTON Stanley midfielder Andy Gouck has revealed the extent of the illness which has kept him sidelined for three weeks.

The former Blackpool captain was hospitalised for five days after being diagnosed with viral pneumonia. And he has admitted he feared the worst after being told scans had revealed he could have blood clots on his lungs.

Gouck felt unwell for a week after the 1-1 draw at Farnborough, and admits he shouldn't even have started the game as he felt under the weather before kick-off.

The 31-year-old was admitted to Blackpool Victoria Hospital after complaining of back pains and soon discovered the severity of his illness.

"It was really worrying, especially when they told me I could have blood clots," Gouck said.

"They didn't say I definitely had them, but when somebody says you might have something as serious as that you do start to worry."

The irregularity was discovered after doctors carried out an ECG on Gouck at Blackpool Victoria. The midfielder was put on a drip and given medication to help fight the virus and thin his blood, and more tests were carried out after which clotting was ruled out.

"I had a CAT scan and about a dozen blood tests but they came back negative," he said.

"Looking back, I shouldn't have started the Farnborough game.

"I'd woken up in the morning at about 9am and didn't feel well.

"I felt a bit sickly but thought I'd be able to just shake it off.

"I started the game but soon realised I was deevoid of energy. I just didn't feel right at all and should have come off before half-time really because I was knackered."

He added: "I think it all stemmed from there.

"I didn't start to feel any better after that and on the following Wednesday I started getting back pains.

"I was finding it quite hard to breathe and it was if my lungs were collapsing.

"Again I thought it would go away, but it didn't.

"So I went to hospital on the Saturday and that's when they admitted me."

Gouck admitted that his illness could be down to a long season taking its toll.

"Nobody really knows how it came about," said Gouck, who produced FA Cup heroics against Huddersfield earlier in the season to fire Stanley into the second round.

"With work, training and playing matches and everything else, I might have just run myself into the ground.

"I'd obviously picked a virus up from somewhere and it just escalated from there."

But, after making a full recovery, Gouck is now hoping to be involved in Stanley's next league game at Telford a week tonight.

"It has taken me a couple of weeks to get my strength back but I'm hoping to be involved at Telford," he said.

"I'll have got a couple of training sessions under my belt before then.

"I probably won't start the game but I'm looking to next week to get back in action in some capacity."

And Gouck added he would welcome the chance to fight for a full-time contract during the run-in to the end of the season.

"I haven't had any discussions at the club about next season yet because they told me to take things easy and make sure I was right before coming back, so I haven't been there for three weeks," he said.

"But there are six games left so hopefully I'll be involved because I would love to go full-time with Accrington."