Andres Palop is keeping his fingers crossed for Sevilla team-mate Sergio Sanchez, who has been diagnosed with a heart condition.

Sanchez has been told to stop all physical activity for the time being.

Sevilla announced the news about Sanchez last night and said the 23-year-old defender, who joined the club from Espanyol last summer, had returned to his home town of Barcelona to be with his family before undergoing further tests.

Palop said: "The dressing room is concerned, we were not expecting news like that. The important thing is his life, they`ve taken these measures for his own good. We hope that the specialists help him to remain active. The good thing is that it was detected in time."

The news about Sanchez comes just five months after his former Espanyol team-mate Dani Jarque died at the age of 26 when his heart stopped following a training session at a pre-season camp in Italy.

In 2007, Sevilla defender Antonio Puerta died after suffering multiple organ failure in hospital, three days after a cardiac arrest during a league match against Getafe.

Also, Real Madrid midfielder Ruben de la Red has been sidelined since collapsing during a Copa del Rey tie in October 2008 after suffering what Real's medical chief Carlos Diez described as "acute fainting probably brought about by cardiac strain".

De la Red has undergone numerous medical tests to try and determine the cause of the problem but, until all doubts about his health are cleared up, the Euro 2008 winner's career remains on hold.