LUKE ANTHONY will again be seen running onto the Vicarage Road pitch this season, but it will be injured rugby players benefiting from his medical expertise and not footballers.

Watford's former first-team physio, who was sacked in the summer as part of Adrian Boothroyd's backroom shake-up, will return to professional sport on Monday when he takes up a new position at Gloucester Rugby Club. Anthony will have day-to-day responsibility for the welfare of the first-team squad and one date that will doubtless feature prominently in his diary is Sunday, January 8 when the Cherry and Whites visit the home of the Hornets to face Saracens.

The physio admitted it was a "blow" to be axed but is excited at the prospect of being involved in a different sport.

"They are a very good club, a big Premier League team with a good history and an impressive set-up, so it's a great opportunity," said Anthony this week.

"When I left Watford I had a number of options in football, some involved moving. If the job in rugby hadn't have come up I would have gone through the process of considering them. There was an initial temptation to stay in football, but when the Gloucester opportunity came along it was too good to turn down."