Danny Rose says there’s been ‘unbelievable’ support after opening up about depression

England footballer Danny Rose has spoken of the huge support he has received after going public about his struggles with depression.

The Tottenham left-back, who played for his country at the World Cup in Russia, had spoken about his depression diagnosis for the first time shortly before the tournament.

There was plenty of solidarity from within the football community at the time, but Rose has since revealed the widespread support has been overwhelming and has made him think he could have spoken out even earlier.

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Rose was at Grimsby Town v Forest Green Rovers on Saturday, where he watched his brother Mitch open the scoring before witnessing a bizarre own goal, and said he had people coming up to him at the game to thank him.

“I had two people come up to me at the game thanking me for what I’d said,” he told The Mirror.

“They had suffered from it and it had helped them.

“I went away with England, there was a member of staff there who’d suffered from it and it thanked me as well.

“It just made me wish maybe I’d done it sooner. Or maybe after the World Cup, but yes, I’m glad I did it in the end.”

“I remember we played at Leeds - England against Costa Rica before the World Cup. I remember waking up that morning, the morning after it came out. I woke up to a lot of messages and I got really upset. I wasn’t expecting it. I wasn’t expecting the amount of messages that I got.”

When he first spoke of his diagnosis, he described England as his “salvation,” and remains grateful to Gareth Southgate and his staff.

He said that when his story came out, “Gareth called me to have a meeting with him.” 

“We had a walk around the hotel and, again, he gave me some really nice words. It was a funny few days for me.

“I speak to [Southgate] outside of England camps and he has been brilliant for me. I’d love him to stay.”

Rose played five times at the World Cup, starting twice including in the third-place play-off, but had endured an injury-hit season at club level before the tournament.

He started just nine games in the Premier League, missing the first few months of the campaign and struggling to displace the in-form Ben Davies even after returning to fitness.

Rose will hope to be in the starting line-up as Spurs begin their 2018/19 campaign against Newcastle United.

(Images: Getty)