Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish is confident that Stiliyan Petrov will use his fighting spirit to beat acute leukaemia.
The Villa captain was diagnosed with the illness after suffering a fever at the weekend.
A host of fellow footballers have expressed their best wishes via Twitter and now McLeish has added to the voices of support.
"It's that old perspective cliche, but it's so true, and everybody here is behind Stan and a lot of the guys, everybody, will be shocked by the news," said the Scot.
"But he's a captain, he's a leader, he's a defiant guy and he's fought many battles on the pitch and I'm sure this is another one he'll win.
"We certainly think it's in the early stages and Stan will get the best medical attention possible."
The Villians' Saturday fixture with Chelsea had been put into doubt by the news of Petrov's illness, but it will go ahead at the Bulgarian's request.
