Chris Morgan: Former Sheffield United skipper retires

Sheffield United defender Chris Morgan has announced his retirement after failing to recover from a cruciate knee ligament injury.

Morgan, 34, made 247 league appearances for the Blades but has not featured in the starting XI since the end of October 2010.

He told BBC Radio Sheffield: "There comes a time where you have to be honest with yourself.

"I've decided that enough is enough and I think I've made the right decision."

He added: "Right from the word go we never got on top of the injury. No matter what we tried it just didn't seem to work and the surgeon agreed this is the right time.

"I don't want to get to 60 and not be able to walk."

He spent last season coaching the reserves and will remain at Bramall Lane in a coaching capacity.

Boss Danny Wilson said last month he expected Morgan to retire this summer.

The former Barnsley man says announcing his retirement has come as something of a relief.

"You want closure and it's been a difficult position because over the last few weeks people have been asking me if I was going to come back," he continued.

"It was hard because I wasn't able to give an answer because we still had things to sort out behind the scenes as I had a year left on my playing contract.

"It's not nice to bring an end to your career but now I want to move forward with my coaching."