The 18-year-old defender, on loan from Colchester, received on-pitch treatment for 30 minutes before being placed on a drip and taken to nearby Blackburn General Hospital where the club said his condition was stable.

The collision occurred as the young defender moved to cut out a long pass during his team’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy tie, but ended up being sandwiched between an onrushing attacker and his own goalkeeper, Ian Dunbavin.

Bender, a Wales under-21 international, was knocked out by a blow in the face from Dunbavin, and only showed signs of regaining consciousness as he was taken off the pitch.

Accrington manager John Coleman said both sets of players immediately recognised the seriousness of the injury, and that neither team felt mentally able to complete the fixture.

“Their striker was trying to get the ball. He was eager and it led to Tom’s momentum going onto a full-blooded punch from our goalkeeper,” he said.

“It was like double the force and the fact Tom didn’t move when he hit the floor is a concern. The lads immediately knew something was wrong and waved the physio over straight away.

“The physio admitted it was scary. They didn’t want to move Tom and we just had to wait for the ambulance to arrive.

“He is now in the safest hands and we’ve just got to hope and pray everything is okay.” A post on the club’s Twitter site late Tuesday confirmed the player was in a stable condition, had regained consciousness and was chatting.

Stanley, from the fourth tier of English football, were 2-1 down to Rovers, from the third level, when the incident occured.

The Johnstone’s Paint Trophy is open to clubs from the country’s lower two divisions.

Source: sportlive