New Millwall manager Nigel Spackman revealed he felt able to return to football only after the conclusion of a 10-year court battle involving his ill son.

Spackman's son Frazer, who is now 12, has a form of cerebral palsy that left his life in danger on several occasions immediately after his birth.

Frazer won damages of £2.8million last November from the Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals' NHS Trust, in Berkshire, over brain injuries he had suffered as a result of post-natal jaundice.

"It was a very traumatic time for the family," Spackman said. "The case took nearly 10 years to bring to a conclusion, and in the last four years it became particularly difficult.

"The money secures his future but will never compensate what he and the family have been through. It certainly puts football - and life - into perspective."