After nine months out of football Whitley returned to action at the weekend when he made a late appearance as a substitute for Wrexham in their much-needed 1-0 win over MK Dons.

Whitley was given a lifeline by Dragons boss Brian Little last week after the former Northern Ireland international recently admitted that he had been undergoing a recovery and rehab programme following a long -term battle with alcohol.

Sanchez, who famously dismissed both Whitley and Philip Mulryne from his international panel two-and-a-half years ago due to a breach of discipline, says that the 28-year-old has a future in the game.

"Anyone who worked closely with Jeff knew there was an issue," said Sanchez, who gave Whitley 12 caps during his reign as manager.

"But it's always down to the person themselves to realise it. The problem was he didn't.

"Over the last couple of years I think it's probably been spelt out to him. He's still relatively young and he's still got some good years ahead of him ? he could go on to play another four or five years."