Kevin Keehan has vowed to bounce back from the latest hammer blow to his fledgling career.

The 18-year-old Bradford City midfielder must be one of the unluckiest young players in professional football.

For the last four years Keehan has been ravaged by a succession of injuries that would have finished the careers of many other players.

His talent is not in question. Bradford gave Keehan a three-year scholarship with a guaranteed one-year pro deal after just one look at him.

But luck has certainly not been on the side of the youngster from Hangleton.

Keehan was not taken on by Albion due to a groin problem, trials with Charlton and Aston Villa were ruined by a thigh injury and in two years at Bradford he has trained for just a total of six weeks due to a back complaint he suffered just two days into his scholarship at Valley Parade.

The situation was so bad the Bantams sent him home to Sussex to get a regular run of games for County League side Whitehawk But after just half a dozen matches for the Hawks he chipped a bone in his right leg in a match against Ringmer and could be out for two months.

The teenager reflected: "It has been an absolute nightmare. I have had two operations and now a broken bone.

"I want to be playing 40 or 50 games a season but I haven't done that in the last four years put together."

Keehan, who is the cousin of Walsall midfielder Michael Standing, started having problems when he was at Albion's Centre of Excellence.

He explained: "I had a groin problem at 14. Brighton couldn't get to the bottom of it and I couldn't get through training. I saw 12 different people before seeing Dr Gilmore who said I had Gilmore's groin, which is named after him. That affected me for two years.

"Brighton let me go because of the injury. I went to Charlton and Villa on trial and picked up a thigh injury where I tore both quads.

"Bradford signed me on a three-year scholarship and one year pro deal which takes me through to 2006. However, on the second day there I started having back problems.

"I had to see a specialist in Essex and he told me the bottom four back muscles are not functioning.

"I got back to training but then went down with quad compartment syndrome, a rare injury where the muscles get too big for the muscle sheaths.

"I went to Lilleshall and they wanted me to pack up playing football for a year. I was told if I didn't I would be a cripple by the age of 21."

An alternative option was to play non-league where you are not training every day. Bradford agreed to this option but then disaster struck again.

Keehan said: "It had been going really well and I played six or seven games in a row which I hadn't done since I was under 14. Then I got injured against Ringmer.

"I have got to wear a huge brace on my leg. I can't run, ride a bike or walk. I can't even socialise, like going to the cinema, unless I can get an aisle seat."

These last few years have been incredibly frustrating for Keehan, whose father Kevin is Albion's commercial manager.

He said: "I feel sorry for Bradford. I can count on one hand the number of games I have played for them and half of those have been as a substitute.

"It is every kid's dream to be a footballer, I have worked so hard to get there and I have trained just a month and a half since I have been there."

Before the latest injury, Keehan scored a stunning goal from the halfway line for Whitehawk away to Chichester and that has given him a glimmer of hope.

He said: "That was my first goal for years. I was ecstatic scoring from the halfway line, especially with my dad on the sidelines. It was like the old times all over again. Hopefully I can get back and score again."