Former Town manager Sir Bobby Robson has undergone a successful operation on a tumour found on his lung after his recent skiing accident. It's the third time the 73-year-old ex-England boss has beaten cancer.

Robson says that but for the accident in mid-February the cancer wouldn't have been discovered as quickly: "If I hadn't fallen over, I wouldn't have known about the tumour and you don't know what might have happened from there.

"I had an x-ray to see if I had broken any ribs and it showed a spot on the lung that proved to be a melanoma.

"The operation to remove it has been 100 per cent successful. I've had a thorough scan from top to bottom and I'm as clean as a whistle. There aren't any other tumours so I don't need any further treatment.

"I feel very fortunate that it was caught early. I was cursing my ski accident at the time because it was so painful. But it turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to me. I had no symptoms so if it hadn't been spotted early, the tumour could have grown."

Robson previously had bowel cancer in 1992 and a mouth cancer three years later. He is expected to resume his current job as a consultant to Republic of Ireland manager Steve Staunton later on this month and has been given permission by doctors to travel to Dublin for the friendly with Chile on May 24th.

The operation took three hours and took place at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle on April 8th.

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