Shrewsbury boss Steve Cotterill has sent a classy message to Wanderers captain Ricardo Santos following his stay in hospital.

The Bolton skipper required help breathing due to a viral infection, but has now returned home.

Ahead of the Whites’ trip to Shrewsbury at the weekend, Cotterill sent his best wishes to the towering centre-back.

The 58-year-old says hearing about Santos’ condition reminded him of his own experiences with breathing problems.

Cotterill fell seriously ill last year after contracting Covid and had two stays in hospital, suffering with pneumonia.

He was eventually able to return to the dugout and his side are currently 13th in the League One table.

“Just a quick message to Ricardo Santos, who I have seen has been in hospital,” said the Shrewsbury boss.

“It sort of reminded me of my Covid scenario a little bit – having shortness of breath and being on oxygen and all that business.

“Our best wishes from myself and everybody at our football club to him and we hope that he is well”.

Ian Evatt shared an update on Santos' condition this afternoon and said he will return on Friday to do "some sort of physical activity".

The Bolton boss said: “Rico left hospital and was back home on Tuesday. He is making some progress. He feels a lot, lot better.

“We are sending him to a private specialist around his breathing and his lungs. I don’t think he still feels 100 per cent back to how he breathing prior to going into hospital.

“We will get more information but the main thing is he is out of hospital, he is on the road to recovery and he will be back in with us to do some sort of physical activity tomorrow.”

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