Football star fights for life

Fabrice Muamba remains in a critical condition in intensive care Credit: PA

Footballer Fabrice Muamba remains in a critical condition in intensive care at the London Chest Hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest.

The player's fiancee urged fans to pray for him, while the club's manager Owen Coyle said he hoped there would be a "happy outcome" for Muamba.

It's emerged that paramedics could not get the 23 year old's heart to start beating on its own for almost two hours after he collapsed on the pitch during an FA Cup tie.

He fell to the ground at White Hart Lane at 6.11pm on Saturday in front of millions of television viewers watching Bolton Wanderer's quarter final clash with Tottenham Hotspur.

Paramedics desperately tried to resuscitate him but were unable to start his heart working by itself again until he reached the London Chest Hospital, in Bethnal Green, at 8pm.

He remains in a critical condition and is anaesthetised in an intensive care unit at the hospital which is seven miles away from the stadium.

Muamba's fiancee, who goes by the name Shauna Muamba on Twitter and is mother to their son Joshua, told fans on the social networking site: "God is in control. Please keep @fmuamba in ur prayers xx"