THE cancer diagnosis that once threatened his life has now given Joe Thompson a sense of freedom he never dared dream of 12 months ago.

Thompson is expected to be included in Bury’s squad for today’s League Two match at Morecambe after managing 55 minutes of football in two cup games this week.

And although the 25-year-old midfielder is not yet up to full speed, his physical and mental state is a far cry from this time last year.

For months, while playing for Tranmere, he was laid low by mystery fatigue before finding out, last October, he had been living with a rare form of cancer.

Crashing out on the sofa after training or playing matches had just become part of his routine, but, thankfully, five months after being given the all clear from nodular sclerosing Hodgkin’s lymphoma, his darkest days look to be behind him.

After playing the last 10 minutes of last Saturday's FA Cup victory over Hemel Hempstead, he said: “I was eager, I was ready, I was chomping at the bit and I would like to think I was able to make an impact.

“I am not as tired after it (playing) and my body seems to be able to recover quicker.

“I do need some little off days from time to time, but looking back now when I was playing through it I was just on the sofa or in bed all the time.

“That was the norm for however many years, I thought I was getting old before my time.

“I feel like for however many years I have been playing with an Achilles heel without knowing quite what it was – I just feel free now.”