Dominic Matteo's wife has lifted the lid on her husband's brain tumour surgery last year, comparing the process of saving him to a "scene from the Avengers".
Matteo, who played for Liverpool between 1993 and 2000, was working for the club's television channel when he came off air suffering from a persistent headache.
The former Scotland international had seen an optician and a doctor but neither had been able to pinpoint what was causing his pain.
So Matteo, who also played for Leeds United and Stoke City, went into hospital hoping that he would be diagnosed with a virus, only to be told he had a brain tumour.
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