SHOCKED Ipswich Town duo Alex McCarthy and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas have offered their support to former team mate Fabrice Muamba.

The England Under-21 midfielder remains in a critical condition in hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest in Bolton’s FA Cup quarter-final at Tottenham on Saturday.

McCarthy played with Muamba, 23, while on international duty and spoke of his shock at seeing the incident after helping Town beat Peterborough 3-2.

The on-loan keeper said: “I came in from our game on Saturday and put the Tottenham match on, and straightaway it was clear that something terrible had happened.

“At the time I didn’t know it was Fab but I was devastated when I heard the full story on Sky and my thoughts go out to him at this time.

“It’s hard to imagine something like this happening to him, as he’s one of the fittest players I’ve ever come across. It’s an awful thing to happen and I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that he can come through this and make a speedy recovery.”

Emmanuel-Thomas played with Muamba through the Arsenal youth ranks and said: “I was first made aware of Fab’s injury after seeing a load of tweets about him on my twitter feed.

“I flicked over to the game and saw all the commotion and people really traumatised by everything. It was shocking to see someone you know in that situation and I just hope he can pull through and I wish him all the best.”

An Ipswich Town spokesman added: “The thoughts of everyone at Ipswich Town are with him and his family at this time.”