Muamba improving steadily

London - Fabrice Muamba celebrated his 24th birthday on Friday with another positive progress report as the Bolton midfielder continues his miraculous recovery from a cardiac arrest.

Muamba was left fighting for his life after collapsing on the pitch in the first half of Bolton's FA Cup quarter-final at Tottenham on March 17.

The Kinshasa-born star's heart stopped for 78 minutes as medics battled to keep him alive at the stadium and then in the London Chest Hospital.

But Muamba has made incredible progress since then and a week ago a picture of him sitting up in his hospital bed and smiling was posted on Twitter.

Bolton boss Owen Coyle confirmed on Thursday that the player had been walking around in the corridors of the intensive care unit and, as Muamba turned 24, a joint statement from the club and the NHS Trust gave a further boost to hopes he will make a full recovery.

"Fabrice Muamba continues to make strong and steady improvements and remains in the intensive care unit of the London Chest Hospital," the statement read.

On Thursday Coyle had said: "He has done some short periods of walking down the corridor he is in as part of the unit, staying in intensive care.

"He is taking steps, talking and has that big smile which we love to see, so he is certainly progressing the right way."