SUNDERLAND legend Charlie Hurley last night expressed his sadness on hearing his former colleague Brian Clough had died with stomach cancer.

Hurley, voted the Black Cats' greatest ever player, was Clough's skipper in Alan Brown's side when the striker was at the Wearside club between 1961 to 1964.

The prolific marksman scored 54 goals in only 61 games for the club following a transfer from his hometown club Middlesbrough before a cruciate ligament injury prematurely brought his career to an end at the age of 29.

"I feel very sad," said Hurley. "We have lost someone very special from the world of football.

"He was without doubt one of the best strikers I had played against and the best I have played with. He was a great manager and the thing about him that was so special, was that he was different.

"You knew where you were with Cloughy he was as straight as a die. Some might not have liked it but it was bloody good reading. He was such a character.

"I always remember his first quotes when he signed for Sunderland. He said 'I'll be playing for the best fans in the business and I won't have to play against Charlie anymore'. That was a back-handed compliment in itself," he laughed.

Clough suffered his shattering knee injury when he collided with Bury goalkeeper Chris Harker after chasing a loose ball in a Boxing Day clash in 1962.

The striker made a comeback 20 months later after Sunderland had gained promotion to Division One without him.

Unfortunately his comeback lasted only three games and one goal before Clough finally admitted defeat and retired.

Hurley says there was no limits to what Clough could have achieved had injury not robbed Sunderland of their star striker.

He said: "He was a sad miss for us after he got injured and in those days you were finished with a cruciate ligament. Had he remained fit who knows what he could have done.

"He was a very talented player who had only played a few times for England and I thought he should have been a regular.

"He was a strong character and a leader and it was no surprise he became a manager when he finished playing.

"I think it is sad that Arsenal finally broke his unbeaten Forest record in the year that he died

"He was the best striker of the ball I have seen; the best I ever played with."