Andy Morrison has opened up about his battle with 'the demon drink' as the former Rovers defender celebrates success with Welsh side Connah's Quay.

Morrison led them to the Welsh Premier title as well as five successive qualifications for European football since taking over in 2015 after a spell coaching in non-league.

Now 49, Morrison, an uncompromising defender in his playing days, has revealed the extent to which alcohol had an effect on his career that was over by the age of 31.

He was at Rovers for part of their 1994/95 Premier League title success, though didn't make an appearance during the campaign, having been signed for £500,000 from Plymouth Argyle the previous season.

Injuries weren't kind to Morrison, who had to wait until February 1994 for his Rovers debut, making six appearances in all before moving on to Blackpool.

But in a revealing interview with the BBC, Morrison explained the extent to which alcohol had on his career.

"Not every time I drank there was trouble, but every time there was trouble I was drunk," he said.

"There were so many episodes of feeling I'd let people down, being in really strong positions in my career and then ultimately the demon drink would come back and I'd find myself in incredible situations that I shouldn't have been in with the responsibility I'd been given.

"I'd captained every team I played for and trained right, worked hard, (been) relentless in my desire to win, but when I stepped away from that and I drank alcohol, all the demons in me - which were barbaric at times - (meant) I'd get in that situation time and time again.

"You'd promise the manager, you'd promise your wife, you'd promise your parents, that's it, it won't happen again - but you never said I won't drink again."

Last season Connah's Quay reached the Scottish Challenge Cup final, while they knocked Kilmarnock out of the Europa League in 2019/20, under Morrison's guidance.

"There are people who have probably had to wait years for their life to turn around after the (kind of) chaos I had," he added.

"I'm very, very, very lucky because there's a lot of people who don't get that opportunity and aren't here to tell their story.

"I sometimes hear people who are close to me defending me at times, saying you don't know Andy, you don't know who he is or what he's about, but it's just how things are.