AFC TOTTON defender James Roden has spoken of his sorrow after the results of a knee scan forced him to retire from football at the age of 30.

Roden had been playing in discomfort for a couple of years and it was on the advice of Stags physio Dave Penny that he went to see his doctor.

He was referred to hospital and received the results of an MRI scan last Saturday morning – just hours before he had been due to turn out for Totton against Evesham United.

Devastatingly, the scan revealed a tear in Roden’s anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and a warning that if he carried on playing the knee was likely to go completely.

He could have an operation but it would potentially mean being off work for six months. And, as a self-employed bricklayer who has recently taken on a mortgage, he can’t afford the loss of earnings.

The former BAT, Andover, Fareham Town and Folland Sports man was in his second spell with Totton having played as a tigerish midfielder during those glorious FA Vase final/Sydenhams Premier-winning days of the mid-noughties.

Admitting he was “gutted” to be hanging up his boots, Roden said: “Football’s all I’ve known since signing as a 16-year-old for Andy Leader at BAT.

“I’m having a small keyhole operation done, like a clean-up, and that will only keep me off work for two weeks. I can afford that.

“But a small op’s not going to fix the ACL problem,”

Roden – affectionately known as ‘Monkey’- had struck up a solid central defensive partnership with recent signing Pat Wilson from Wimborne.

But it’s not just his playing ability that Totton will miss.

"Not only has Monkey been playing well, but to lose him out of the dressing room is a big blow,” said manager Steve Hollick. “He's the glue in the team that bonds everyone together.

"But being a semi-pro player is difficult at times like this. He's got to think about his family and future life.

“Monkey had been playing on his bad knee and, granted, it ballooned at times. You strap it up, freeze it or do whatever you have to do to keep playing and it’s not until a specialist tells you that you realise how bad it is. You could tell when he turned up last week that he was visibly shaken by the news.

“We put him on the bench and he came back to me on Tuesday after speaking to his family and said he was retiring. It’s the sensible thing to do.”

Ian Oliver moved across to centre-back last Saturday with Marc Diaper returning to the left-back berth.

But Diaper took a bad knock on the knee in a bruising 2-2 draw with Evesham which left one or two more nursing minor injuries ahead of Saturday’s 8th v 11th showdown at Shortwood.

“We’ve picked up a few knocks and niggles, but we can rotate the squad a bit now and give lads who’ve been on the bench a run-out,” said Hollick.