FOOTBALL legend John Charles remains critically ill in an Italian hospital after undergoing his second emergency operation in a week.

The 72-year-old former Wales international, who was player-manager of Hereford United from 1967-71, was taken ill in a TV studio in Milan last week and taken to the city's San Carlo Borromeo Hospital where he underwent a two-hour heart operation.

He subsequently developed liver problems and had to be operated on again to remove a blood clot in his leg.

Surgeons remain confident, however, that 'The Gentle Giant', whose condition is now described as 'stable', will make a full recovery.