Soccer: Bolton have confirmed their scheduled Premier League meeting with Blackburn on Saturday will go ahead, as it was revealed Fabrice Muamba was "effectively dead" for 78 minutes following his cardiac arrest at Tottenham on Saturday.

With Muamba making quicker progress than anyone could have expected following the dramatic events at White Hart Lane, manager Owen Coyle spoke with his players this morning to see if they wanted to face Blackburn at the weekend.

The answer was positive, while Bolton will also head back to Tottenham on Tuesday to play the rearranged FA Cup quarter-final that had to be abandoned by referee Howard Webb after Muamba's collapse.

The memories of those harrowing scenes are still fresh in the mind. Medical staff desperately tried to save Muamba's life on the pitch before he was rushed to the London Chest Hospital, where the 23-year-old has remained ever since.

Muamba was visited by Thierry Henry on Wednesday afternoon, the latest footballing superstar to express his concern after playing with the former England Under-21 captain during his Arsenal days.

Coyle is set to speak in more depth at a press conference planned for on Thursday morning.

However, Bolton team doctor Jonathan Tobin made some startling revelations today as he spoke for the first time about the efforts that were made to save Muamba's life.

After working on Muamba for 48 minutes before his arrival at hospital, Dr Tobin confirmed the player continued to receive treatment for 30 minutes before his heart showed signs of activity.

"In effect he was dead in that time," Dr Tobin said. "Fabrice was in a type of cardiac arrest where the heart is showing lots of electrical activity but no muscular activity.

"It's something that often responds to drugs and shocks.

"Now heaven knows why, but Fabrice had, in total, 15 shocks. He had a further 12 shocks in the ambulance."