He has played three games since recovering, lasting the full 90 minutes in Saturday's 1-0 home defeat by Birmingham City.

"I'm just happy to be back on the pitch and not in a hospital bed," he said.

"It was quite serious. It went from zero to 100 pretty quick.

"They kept me in hospital for eight days. It was tough on me and my body. It was a scary moment."

Dykes, who has scored eight goals in 26 internationals, recalled feeling ill against Swansea City on 21 January. He talked of flu-like symptoms, saying he "kept trying to battle on".

Five days later, he was diagnosed with pneumonia following a CT scan of his lungs.

"I'm the kind of person who just wants to get on with it but my body couldn't take any more," said the Australia-born forward. "I was struggling to breathe.

"Then the medicine I was taking wasn't quite working the way they wanted it to at the hospital and at that time I wasn't thinking about football; it was about myself, my family.

"The specialists are shocked at how quickly I've come back. Even myself, I'm a bit surprised. I needed to build myself back up because I didn't do much for so long.

"The positive that I took out of it is that I'm grateful for everything I have. When I'm playing now I kind of step back a bit and realise what I'm doing. I see the crowd and my family watching and I try to enjoy each moment."