Former Northern Ireland international Grant McCann has revealed he was diagnosed with skin cancer in December – and “possibly could have had five to six weeks to live” – but says he's “OK now”.

McCann represented Northern Ireland on 39 occasions between 2001 and 2012, scoring four goals for his country, and finished his playing career in the Irish League at Linfield.

Belfast-born McCann has enjoyed a successful transition into management, starting at Peterborough United before winning league titles with Hull City (League One) and Doncaster Rovers (League Two).

The 46-year-old is currently still in charge of Doncaster, who sit inside League One’s relegation zone having lost two and drawn three of their five matches to this point.

placeholder image — Doncaster Rovers manager Grant McCann. (Photo by Bradley Collyer/PA Wire)

When asked about the pressure of management, McCann opened up on his health scare – highlighting how some things are more important than football results.

“There's lots of pressure in football,” McCann told the Doncaster Free Press, the News Letter’s sister title. “Lots of pressure from outside and outside sort of noises but we know what we have in the building, you know.

“If I want to talk about pressure, I think the pressure that came on me at Christmas time last year when the doctor came to see me at the training ground to tell me I had an illegitimate melanoma, which is skin cancer.

"That's pressure.

“So fortunately, I'm OK now, but possibly could have had five to six weeks to live.

"These are things that I would probably talk to you about pressure.

"Every day we come into the football club to try and improve this football club. Every day we come in to try and improve the players.

"We work all day, every day. We're trying our best to make us a real good team.

"Like everything, it takes a little bit of time, we have a lot of new players in the building, players who are taking a bit of time to get up to speed fitness wise, players who are coming back from injury.

"These are not excuses, I’m not that type of person, they’re just facts.”

McCann returned to Northern Ireland this summer for Doncaster’s pre-season training programme, facing Glenavon and Linfield in friendlies.

His former international team-mate Michael Duff, who played 24 times for Northern Ireland, became the first Football League manager of the season to lose his job earlier this week after confirmation of his exit from Wycombe Wanderers.

McCann expressed his disappointment at Wycombe’s decision to part company with Duff – and added “I just don't get the industry sometimes".

"The transfer window has just finished and he's just signed one of the best strikers in League One in Jayden Wareham and he gets the chance to work with him for two days and then loses his job," he said. "Fortunately here we're at a really good football club who understand that we're trying to improve all the time.

"The owners see they have a staff and a bunch of players who will give everything for Doncaster Rovers and that is what we're doing."