A footballer left brain-damaged after an attack by a group of thugs while on holiday visited his old nursery to try and help his worsening memory loss.

Former Sutton United and Croydon Athletic player Robbie Hughes is finding it increasingly difficult to remember parts of his life after being savagely beaten into a coma while holidaying in Malia in Crete in 2008.

Mr Hughes, who needed four life-saving operations to survive the attack, visited the Grange Playcentre in Wallington last Thursday in a bid to jog childhood memories.

He looked at photographs and walked around the building in the hope it would help him piece together the past.

His mum, Maggie Hughes, from Sutton, said while he felt a familiarity with the place, there was not a major breakthrough.

She said: "His memory is getting worse and we tried this to see if the visit could help at all.”

She added: “Its very frustrating for him. He just wants to try and fill in the gaps and know who he was."

He was accompanied by a Channel 4 film crew, who are doing a documentary about Mr Hughes's story in the run-up to next year's Olympics, where he hopes to represent Great Britain in the Paralympic football team.

Mr Hughes, who dreams of setting up his own football academy, was given a boost when he was invited by the nursery to coach youngsters there.

After a kickaround with the four to 12-year-olds at the Sutton Council-run playcentre, he was asked by playcentre manager Jenny Henry to come back and coach the children.

She said: "The children absolutely loved his visit and we have some really keen footballers.

"I asked him if there was any chance of him coming back, and he said yes, which is absolutely fantastic."