Speed was found dead on Sunday morning. A post mortem examination found the Wales manager's death was caused by hanging.

Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, this morning urged players to ask for help with any issues which concern them.

And Kay confirmed this evening an unusually high number of players were turning to his organisation.

He told Radio 5 live: "I'm hesitant to even link that tragedy with anything good. I think it's almost inappropraite that anything good can come out of such an awful occurrence. But over 10 players have have contacted me since that news broke.

"That means 10 people are seeking help. That is an unusual amount.

"If that can be deemed something worthwhile coming out from such a tragedy then so be it. But I'm loathe to think of anything positive from that tragedy."

Taylor said the PFA, in conjunction with associated partners, regularly helped out their members but the greatest hurdle was often making the first step.

"We have players all the time who come to us needing help. It is part of our job," he told Press Association Sport.

"The delicate thing is making sure everyone is aware and they can have confidence with the confidentiality element.

"It does need them to have the courage to ask for help and when they do that it makes it easier to break through the barrier."

Taylor said the death of Speed had brought into focus the fact that those involved in football were not immune from the pressures people faced every day.

"It has brought into people's minds the problems footballers deal with," he added.

"I want people to know there is a support and counselling system there because we want to do all we can to prevent things like this happening again.

"We have have a very close liaison with - and subsidise - the Sporting Chance clinic and we also have trained PFA counsellors.

"Only this season we brought out a booklet on mental health issues and different problems.

"We have been working for some time on issues of depression and mental health and other, addictive, problems.

"This is not something which is happening just now, it is something we have been addressing."

The day before Speed's death, former Aston Villa striker Stan Collymore had written movingly about his depression, an illness which, according to Kay, is still poorly understood.

"It's so hard to explain to people who've never suffered from it," he said.

"As Stan wrote earlier this week - he wrote so eloquently, I thought it was brilliant what he wrote - of course how it does work is the identification from one human being to another.

"Through my own personal experiences and my staff's personal experiences, they can identify and share with someone else and make them feel less lonely.

"When people are voicing the fact they've considered taking their own life that is the stage before Gary got to.

"I've read so many commentaries from people who knew him so much better than I did and no-one it appears had an inkling that anything was awry.

"I find it very traumatic to think of how lonely that man, or anyone, feels in that position."