'Football needs to do something' to help players discover heart defects, says Brighton's Connor Goldson... whose own condition was found late

• e-mail

Brighton defender Connor Goldson has called on football clubs to do more checks on players to detect heart problems.

The 24-year-old has not played competitively since January after the discovery of a swollen aorta left him fearing for his career.

Former Newcastle midfielder Cheick Tiote died in June after collapsing while training in China, and his fellow Ivorian Eugene Kouame died earlier this month after suffering a heart attack.

Connor Goldson has called on football clubs to do more to discover heart conditions

Quoted in The Times, Goldson said: 'You look at Tiote. You never know what can happen. Two players in the last few months is way too many.

'Football needs to do something. Every club needs to check at least once a year. Unfortunately players don't get the scans. I never felt a thing. If my little story can make other clubs think they need to do a test, hopefully it can save other players.'

Goldson's problem, which was discovered during routine screening by the club, meant he missed the closing stages of the Sky Bet Championship campaign as Chris Hughton's side finished runners-up to return to the top flight for the first time since 1983.

Cheick Tiote died after collapsing during a training session in China earlier this year

He could return to league action when Brighton begin the new season at home to Manchester City on August 12, and he would do so feeling fortunate to be alive.

'The surgeon explained it's like a balloon and it gets bigger and bigger and it can just pop - or you can be fortunate and it never goes,' the former Shrewsbury man said.

'The average person has (an aorta of) 4cm and you're at risk at 5cm. My last scan was 4.9cm. So I was very close.'