Irish central defender Gerard Nash has decided to retire from playing at the age of 20 to concentrate on coaching. Nash has twice undergone cruciate ligament surgery in the last four years and had a cartilage operation late last year.

Nash told the club site: "I made up my mind after the friendly at Bury earlier this week that I couldn't play at the level I want to.

"I was struggling to get through the 90 minutes, the twisting and turning was a real problem and I wasn't doing myself justice.

"I knew that it wasn't fair on the club, the manager and myself so I've made a decision to call it a day. Jim has been fantastic to me and I owe him so much and honesty is one thing that I can give him in return.

"It's a sad time, but life goes on and there are far worse things in life. Rather than look back, I want to push on and coaching is a challenge that I would like to take up.

"I've spoken to Bryan Klug and there may be something that can be sorted out for me here in terms of learning the coaching trade.

"You can't beat playing but coaching is the next best thing and it's a path that I would like to follow."

Nash made one first team appearance as a sub in the 6-1 hammering of Burnley in October 2003. He was released by Joe Royle at the end of last season but was given time to prove himself by new manager Jim Magilton.

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