A FOOTBALLER today said both he and an Aberdeen FC youngster were “lucky to be alive” after they were involved in a car crash.

Dons striker Declan McManus, who is currently on loan at Greenock Morton, had to be taken to hospital after a teammate’s car that he was travelling in crashed on the A9 just past Gleneagles.

McManus and Morton’s Joe McKee were travelling home from their team’s 3-1 win over Peterhead when McKee’s Mercedes C Class crashed into the central reservation.

McKee today said the car, which he says was travelling at 70 mph, spun “four or five times” before crashing. He said: “Dec was a bit shaken up and so was I.

“There were thoughts running through my head about what would have happened if the car flipped.

“You don’t ever expect something like that to happen.

“When I looked at the car I couldn’t believe we had walked out of it all right.

“I’m fit and Dec had a bit of stiff neck but both of us are okay. We’re just lucky to be alive.”