Fabrice Muamba's fiancee Shauna and father Marcel have released a statement expressing their appreciation for the continued support for the Bolton Wanderers midfielder but have admitted that he still has a "long period of recovery" to go.
The 23-year-old has made significant improvements at the London Chest Hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest at White Hart Lane during Bolton's FA Cup quarter-final against Tottenham Hostpur on Saturday.
A statement from the family said: "We would firstly like to thank God for our prayers. Thank you to everyone for the love, prayers and support over the last few days. In particular we owe an enormous gratitude to the Bolton and Spurs medical teams for their quick reaction on the pitch on Saturday and a fantastic team here at the London Chest Hospital.
"We've been overwhelmed by all the kind messages we've received and support we've had from fans, not just from Bolton but football support around the world, which has given us so much strength. We've been particularly touched by the suport from the football community globally.
"Even though Fabrice has made great progress over the past few days, he's still in intensive care and he still has a long period of recovery ahead. He has asked that you still keep him in your prayers."
It emerged that the Muamba was effectively "dead" for 78 minutes.
