Shamrock Rovers striker Mikey Drennan has announced that he will take time away from football because of depression.
The Kilkenny-born player, who came through Aston Villa's academy, announced the decision in a statement on Facebook, with Shamrock Rovers adding that Drennan has the "full support of all his colleagues and friends at the club".
"I want to put this on Facebook to let people know what's going on and will be in the papers soon," he said.
"I'm taking time out of football because I'm not happy and I've been suffering with depression for the last 3 years and I thought I would have dealt with it better then but it's come to a point now where I need to leave and take a break.
I want to thank everyone @ShamrockRovers for the help they have given me and time I need. Thank to the fans and players for there supportðŸ€
— mikey drennan (@mikeydrennan) May 19, 2016
"I just want to be happy because life is way too short, I need to be around people I love and get a job.
"I needed something to change and this is a very tough decision and one that I've put my whole life into and hoped to be successful in but it's not one I've made over 2 weeks.
"This has been on my mind a lot over the past few years but I said I would stick it out. It can't get any worse but it did and I haven't spoke to people about it as much as I should and I wanted to deal with it myself but it was the wrong decision.
"People will always look at me different saying, "I'm a failure" and all that crap but it's the reason why I came home in the first place to play soccer here to see would it make me better which obviously it didn't.
Mikey Drennan: Update on Mikey Drennan:
https://t.co/29BobIgR0C #fb— Shamrock Rovers F.C. (@ShamrockRovers) May 19, 2016
"I just wanna come back and get the help I need to get back on track and would like to go back playing in League of
Ireland at some stage if the chance came up.
"I want to thank everyone who has given their best to support me and make this difficult decision."
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