Aston Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov is determined to fight acute leukaemia “head-on”, according to Alex McLeish. The Villa manager accompanied Petrov and his wife Paulina as the player began his treatment for the illness at a London hospital on Monday.
“Randy Lerner [chairman], Paul Faulkner [chief executive] and myself went to see Stiliyan on the first day of his road to recovery. He’s determined to meet it head on – we expect that from Stan.”
Petrov’s initial treatment involves taking a course of steroids and tablets which will prepare him for chemotherapy. Earlier, his ex-Celtic team-mate John Hartson, a former cancer sufferer who beat the illness in 2009, said the Bulgarian international was “upbeat” as he prepared to start his treatment.
“A lot of it is psychological. You have to get your head around what is happening and dealing with it as openly as you can,”
Hartson, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer before the condition spread to his lungs and brain, told BBC Scotland.
