The Fulham and Wales defender broke his right leg in several places in the crash last January, where the Jaguar car he was driving left the road in Bletchingley, Surrey.

While being lucky to survive the accident, it was expected that he would be unable to play football for at least a year - if at all.

However, a X-ray earlier this week revealed that one of the bones in Coleman's leg is not healing correctly and will need a minor operation, setting back his recovery by two months.

"We pushed the ankle a bit too hard and got a bit carried away so they've given me my crutches back just as a precaution.

Praise

"I made a mistake setting targets for myself because a couple of days ago I had a X-ray on my tibia and it isn't knitting properly, so I have to have another little operation on it.

"It's going to set me back another two months and I took that pretty hard. But I've learnt not to set dates for when I recover - just as long as I do recover."

Coleman paid tribute to the support that he had received at Fulham from the owner, Mohamed Al Fayed, down.

The Swansea-born player had particular praise for manager Jean Tigana, both for helping Coleman through his rehabilitation and for the way he has taken the London club to the brink of the Premiership.

"I couldn't ask for any more from the club, they've been absolutely fantastic. I'm lucky that I'm at a club like that."