ROBERTO Di Matteo says news of Neil Clement being forced to hang up his boots on medical advice has come as a major blow to everyone at the club.

The left-sided defender has reluctantly admitted defeat in his long-running battle to recover from a right knee injury, which he suffered during pre-season some 17 months ago.

The Baggies boss is disappointed he never got the chance to make use of the defender's talents after taking the Hawthorns reins in June.

And Di Matteo has nothing but empathy for Clement having experienced the heartbreak of having his playing career cut short by injury.

He has now urged the 31-year-old to view it as a new chapter in his life and hopes working within Albion's Academy and sports science department for the rest of the season will help him decide his next move.

"It's bad news for the club, bad news for the player and bad news for me," said the Albion chief.

"I was hoping he'd get back to playing because he would have been an important player for us.

"It's a difficult time for the boy.

"I've been there myself so I understand how difficult it is.

"We've given him all of our support.

"He's been here for ten years so hopefully he can start a new career and life.

"It became apparent three days ago that this would happen.

"He will start doing some work in the Academy and we will review it in the summer whether he wants to continue with that or do something different."

Di Matteo added: "I don't want to say right now what he's going through - that's something for another time - but I know it's not easy mentally.

"It's a complete change of your life from the last 20-odd years.

"It's not easy and it takes a long time to digest.

"People don't realise the effect it has."