Former England international Andros Townsend has opened up about the frightening incident in which he was run over by a pitch roller ahead of a Thai League 1 match, describing the experience as truly terrifying.
The 35-year-old, who now plays for PT Prachuap after a career that included spells at Tottenham, Luton and Crystal Palace, was going through his pre-match warm-up in Pattani on Saturday when a staff member appeared to lose control of the heavy roller. The vehicle briefly trapped Townsend's left leg, but he escaped without serious injury and went on to feature as a substitute late in the game, which PT Prachuap won 3-0.
Discussing the incident publicly for the first time on Piers Morgan's Football Uncensored, Townsend admitted he still struggles to watch footage of the moment back. "Every time I see it, I'm cringing, I'm in disbelief," he said. "It's horrible to watch back and to see what could have been, thankfully I was fortunate I did manage to fall onto the floor at the right time, so nothing snapped as the roller went over me."
Townsend revealed that he had noticed something unusual before the incident occurred, with two rollers positioned on either side of the pitch during the warm-up. "I remember thinking to myself, 'I've never seen that before in my career, what are they doing?' But we got called to warm-up. Didn't think anything of it," he explained. He said his next memory was finding himself trapped beneath the machine, though he was relieved there was no lasting damage. "The next I saw him was when I was literally underneath him and thankfully no serious damage. A couple of bumps and bruises but managed to walk away unscathed, luckily."
The winger, who has endured several injury setbacks throughout his career, insisted the frightening episode would not deter him from continuing to play. His team-mates, however, were stunned that he carried on with the warm-up afterwards. "They were very surprised that I continued the warm-up. They were telling me to go to the doctor," Townsend said.
Describing the physical struggle to free himself, he explained: "It was quite heavy, but I was able to kind of lift it, force it off me. So when it was completely on me, I was getting crushed a little bit. I was able to get my left arm up and relieve some of the pressure, and then I was able to get my team-mates around me who were able to lift it, and I was able to squeeze out but at that moment where it was crushing my left leg, it was quite terrifying, I must say."
Given his history of surgeries on both his left ankle and knee, Townsend feared the worst as the roller pressed down on him. "I thought, either my left ankle was going to snap or my left knee is going to snap. I thought I was done. I was very fortunate that I was able to hobble away and recover within a few minutes," he said.
Townsend, who earned 13 caps for England during his career, later made light of the ordeal on social media. Referencing a previous post comparing a sunny away trip in Thailand to past visits to Stoke City's Bet365 Stadium, he joked: "It turns out Stoke away wasn't so bad after all."
Despite the alarming scare, Townsend appears to have escaped any lasting physical effects and remains focused on continuing his career in Thailand with PT Prachuap.
Based on reporting from BBC Sport.