Kyle Lafferty in a 'good place' after admitting to gambling relapse

Kyle Lafferty says he is in a "good place" after admitting he recently suffered a gambling relapse.

The former Northern Ireland striker revealed his last bet was six months ago, after being "off it" for over three years.

Lafferty has been open with his addiction, having gone public with it back in 2017 when playing for Hearts.

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The 37-year-old former Rangers striker, who won 89 caps for his country, says he is in a "good place" now after seeking "proper help".

He told the BBC: "I think I started when I was 12 and my last bet was six months ago. I was off it for three and a half years. Addiction is addiction.

"If you don't follow your programs or control your addictions you fall back into and unfortunately I fell back into it. I went and got proper help from the right people and I'm now coming up to six months clean again."

Lafferty said attempting to hide from addiction is the "worst thing you can do".

He added: "I've hid for many years with my addiction and the best thing I've done is speak about it.

"I've helped a lot of people, people have contacted me to ask for advice to get through their addiction."

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Speaking about his addiction back in 2017, Lafferty said in an interview: "About halfway through my contract with Rangers I didn't have anything better to do after training than go to the bookies or sit online.

"Betting on football had been banned and, if anything, things got worse. I'd bet on horses instead. I knew absolutely nothing about horses. I still don't have a clue. I open the app on my phone and go by the colour of the jersey or the name. If it's a winner, it's a winner; if it's not, it's not, and I move on to the next one.

"It was every day on the horses and every single race. I was betting on anything; horses, dogs, virtual racing, roulette.

"I've been lucky enough to have a lot of team-mates who have looked out for me and tried to help me and to this day they're still trying to help me. I might listen to them for two or three hours.

"There's been times when I've lost big. I don't want to go into figures, but I've lost on the roulette and then I'd be so close to getting it all back. I might be a grand or two from getting it back and I'd keep on going."

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