The West Ham teenager was diagnosed with testicular cancer last year when it showed up in a routine drugs test at the U17s World Cup in Mexico with the Joeys .

Medics immediately removed the affected testicle - but he then faced weeks of exhausting chemotherapy to prevent the cancer returning.

Unfortunately though it was later found in his abdomen and lymph nodes and he had to undergo extensive surgery to remove it.

He now sports a 30cm scar down his midriff where surgeons opened him up - but is finally on the comeback trail and looking forward to the new season.

Tombides, 18, revealed he was relaxing on holiday in Cancun after the U17s World Cup when doctors first told him the initial cancer diagnosis.

According to the UK's Daily Mail, the Perth-born striker then turned to his father and asked: "Dad, could this kill me?"

He added: "I was 17, a young man and I had never come across cancer. All I was thinking about was getting in the West Ham team and taking my driving test.

"I didn’t really understand what was going on at the time. All I ever wanted to be was a top professional footballer with West Ham. I copped one in my groin against Brazil at the World Cup and I knew that I had a problem, but I had no idea it was cancer.

"It was only when I took the phone call in Cancun that I realised just how serious the condition was. I had the blood tests and CT scans when I got back to England and they told me I needed to have a testicle removed immediately.

"I just accepted it. I mean, it was hurting me so much anyway it seemed sensible."
 
The gruelling chemotherapy sessions took its toll on the youngster though, leaving him dazed and confused for days on end.

‘I’d wake up for 15 minutes and I would be exhausted," he said. "They would give me anti-sickness tablets and I would think I’d only been sick a couple of times in the night.

"Then Mum would look at me and put me right — it was more like seven or eight.

"There were times when I would just look at Mum and tell her, 'I don’t want the chemo any more, I will live with the cancer'. That’s how I felt at times.

"It took five to ten days to bounce back from each chemo blast and there is no trick to dealing with it.

"My team-mates wanted to visit me but I told them not to because I couldn’t stay awake for longer than 15 minutes and couldn’t always remember what was happening."
 
His recovery faced a massive setback with the discovery of secondary tumours, forcing radical surgery that has left its mark on the youngster's body.
 
"I spent 11 days in hospital after that and it wasn’t pleasant," Tombides told the Daily Mail. "I woke up to a huge scar and couldn’t use my core muscles for weeks.

"I had to work out how to roll in and out of bed because it was so painful and it was weeks before I was allowed to do any exercise.

"I just wanted to play football again, but there was so much scar tissue I had to be careful. I spent a lot of time on the exercise bike or in the swimming pool, not rushing anything."
 
Now though he faces nine more monthly checks to ensure his recovery is on track and is relishing the thought of getting back on the pitch as soon as possible.

He added: "It has been a long process, but all I ever wanted to do was play football again."