• Former Scunthorpe manager injured in crash with rodent • 'I was flying through the air – I could have died,' he says

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Scunthorpe United fans have been asked not to dress as squirrels when Alan Knill returns in charge of Torquay on Saturday.

Knill suffered a bizarre accident last year when the manager of Scunthorpe when he collided with a squirrel while out cycling.

The rodent got caught up in his spokes and sent Knill flying off his bike. Knill survived, the squirrel died. A witness called an ambulance but Knill, who feared he might have broken his collarbone, escaped with cuts and bruises.

Scunthorpe United hope that their mascot Scunny Bunny is the only furry creature in attendance against Torquay. Photograph: Dave Howarth/PA Archive/Press Association Ima

"It was quite serious at the time, I was flying through the air," Knill told the Scunthorpe Telegraph. "I came off my bike at 20-whatever miles an hour, an ambulance was called and everything – I could have died.

"I'm worrying every night about football, about this, about that, I could have been dead. The perspective for me was I might not have been having this conversation. [Defeats] happen but it puts a perspective on everything."

It will be Knill's first return to Glanford Park in League Two since he was sacked in October 2012 and there has been speculation in the local press as to how he will be received.

One fan tweeted the club to ask: "Will anyone wearing any 'squirrel attire' be banned from entering the ground on Saturday?"

Scunthorpe United's twitter account replied: "No you won't be banned. However, the club would prefer it if you didn't dress up in 'squirrel attire'."