PAUL Carden hailed the “honesty and integrity” of Greg Tansey after the Warrington Town midfielder announced his retirement from the game.

Tansey joined Yellows last month but made only one substitute appearance before persistent injuries forced him to hang up his boots aged 30.

Having struggled with osteomyelitis – a rare and painful bone infection – for the past two years, Carden says the midfielder had got to the point where even training sessions had become a struggle for him.

The Town boss says Tansey felt like he had let his new teammates down but did not want to be a drain on the club.

“He wanted to come and play, but it was getting to the stage where he was struggling after training,” he said.

“His honesty in the phone call we had was evident. He was gutted and felt like he was letting us down.

“We had a tough session on Tuesday and on Wednesday his missus had to roll him out of bed as he was that sore.

“He came on for 20 minutes against Radcliffe and he was phoning up home asking for an ice bath because he was in bits.

“The lads know their own bodies and it’s important they are honest with themselves and Greg was.

“He’ll succeed in whatever he does next and we wish him all the best with that.

“He didn’t want to be a drain on the club, which players have been in the past. When I came in, there was a couple of them.

“His honesty and integrity was evident.”