Football legend Brian Clough is progressing well after a successful liver transplant, a hospital spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

The former manager had been given just two months to live when he had the 10-hour operation at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital earlier this month.

The team which operated on the 67-year-old also removed a cancerous growth they found in his diseased liver.

The hospital spokeswoman said: "He is progressing very well but there is no date set for him to leave yet."

The operation was at the Freeman Hospital

Last week consultant Derek Manas, who performed the operation, said Clough was recovering well and was in good spirits.

He said strict tests had shown the former manager, who is being treated as an NHS patient, had not been drinking for at least six months.

Mr Manas said if they had had any doubt about what would happen when he left the hospital, they would not have carried out the operation, regardless of who he was.

Career highlights

As a player, Clough won two England caps and scored 251 goals in 274 games as a striker for Middlesbrough and Sunderland.

He led Nottingham Forest to two European Cup triumphs during his career as a manager which also saw him win the Division One title with Derby County.

Clough revealed in his book Walking on Water the damage heavy drinking had done to his health.

Another leading football legend, George Best, of Manchester United and Northern Ireland, also had a liver transplant last July after years of alcohol abuse.