Christian Eriksen returns to action

Christian Eriksen played an hour in a closed-doors friendly against a Southend United XI on Monday, his first match since suffering cardiac arrest.

Ex-Spurs midfielder Eriksen created a goal in Brentford’s 3-2 victory.

The Denmark international, who turned 30 on Monday, joined Brentford last month after being released by Inter Milan.

Last week, Eriksen told BBC Sport it feels like a miracle to be able to resume his career after collapsing while playing at Euro 2020 last summer.

Eriksen is building up his match fitness, and the outing against the Southend side is seen by Brentford manager Thomas Frank as a crucial part of that.

He last played a competitive match on 12 June 2021 at Euro 2020 for Denmark, when he collapsed on the pitch and received CPR before being taken to hospital.

The Dane was subsequently fitted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD).

Eriksen’s Inter contract was cancelled by mutual consent in December because players fitted with an ICD cannot compete in Serie A.

However, the Premier League does not have the same regulations.