Delaney made his return to action in Ipswich's League Cup win over Milwall

Ipswich Town defender Damien Delaney says the blood clot in his thigh that he suffered in pre-season posed a serious threat to his career.

The 29-year-old played his first full Championship match of the season in Tuesday's 2-1 defeat at Watford.

He told BBC Radio Suffolk: "There was a massive threat of having to have part of my thigh muscle cut out.

"That could have meant the end of my career but over the last few weeks I've begun to feel human again."

The Irishman, who has previously has spells with Hull, QPR and Leicester, had surgery to remove the blood clot in July.

"The hardest thing I had to overcome was losing quite a lot of blood, I never thought the blood loss would affect me the way it did," he added.

"In the early stages just going to the kitchen to get something to eat made me out of breath.

"It takes about eight weeks for your body to restore its blood levels."

The versatile defender has played 41 games for Town since arriving at Portman Road in July 2009.

And despite his recent ordeal he admits he tried not to consider the possibility of having to walk away from the game.

"It was mentioned to me, but the kind of person I am it went in one ear and out the other," said Delaney.

"If you start worrying about stuff like that you're never going to get back playing football."

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