Welsh midfielder Jess Fishlock has said she feared contracting an opiate addiction during her recovery from an ACL injury. 

Fishlock sustained the injury while playing for National Women's Soccer League side OL Reign last July. Her fear of addiction got so severe she got a friend to control her medication.

The 33 year-old told The Telegraph: “They’re highly addictive, and obviously the whole opiates epidemic happened over here.

“I was on such a heavy dose. From four days onwards, I stopped taking medication for that reason – the hard stuff. The first four, five days, I would not wish on anybody. That’s just me being brutally honest with you. I remember calling my mum, crying. None of my family were around. It was hard.” 

Fishlock was given the all-clear in February but she wants to make it clear her knee is not 100 per cent.

“I think it’s important for people to understand that just because you get cleared to play, your knee is still a little bit of way off from being like a knee.

“You’re cleared to play because you’re strong, you have enough range of motion and your power is still there – but it takes a little while until you can wake up and not really think about it."