Petr Cech still suffers blinding headaches when he wakes, with his medication rendering him exhausted and unable to concentrate for any length of time, as he continues his steady recovery from the depressed fracture of the skull sustained so horrifically in the Premiership match at Reading two weeks ago.
The Chelsea goalkeeper, sporting an ugly scar visible through hair shaven for surgery, spoke publicly yesterday for the first time since clashing with Stephen Hunt only 20 seconds into the champions' 1-0 win at the Madejski Stadium. Cech later went under the knife at the Radcliffe Infirmary's specialist neurosurgical unit in Oxford and, while his rehabilitation is progressing encouragingly, is not expected back in full training until mid-January at the earliest.
The 24-year-old insists the last thing he remembers of the game was jogging the length of the pitch to change ends immediately before the kick-off, leaving him with no recollection of the collision with Hunt. "I have seen it once and it is always difficult to see yourself on the floor, but still I could see me speaking to the doctor and moving," said Cech, who was discharged from hospital on Tuesday and, alongside his wife Martina, visited his team-mates at their Cobham training complex yesterday. "I was surprised in the way that I thought it happened on the other side of the head. That just proves that I don't remember anything."
More uncomfortable reminders of the injury persist. "Sometimes it is difficult because you wake up and you have a horrible headache, so you have to take your medication, and it is very strong," he said. "So it is not the best because, after, you feel really tired really quickly. You want to walk and you want to watch the telly, but after five, 10, 15 minutes you are really tired and you have to stop.
"I just try to live with that and I hope that every day it is going to get better, and it is better because when I was able to go home, the mood was better. But I am just happy that I am improving in all aspects. Soon I have got a medical meeting with Bryan English, the club doctor, and all the medical department, and they will tell me the schedule, what I can do, and hopefully start growing the muscles.
"It will be really difficult because I can't move for a long time, the most is 15 to 20 minutes and then I am exhausted. So it will be difficult. Even with the metal in your head you need some recovery. They will prepare some programme for me - massage, little walks, these kind of things - so I start maintaining my body and I hope I will be able to go back as soon as I can."
Cech preferred not to comment on whether he thought Hunt had caught him deliberately with his right knee as he attempted to reach a loose ball in the Chelsea penalty area. The Reading winger has been insistent that the clash was "a terrible accident" and, having been cleared of any wrongdoing by the English FA, he has expressed a willingness to meet with Cech. Yet the incident prompted a furious reaction from the Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, and relations between the clubs remain strained.
Yet the Czech Republic international himself remains oblivious to the events which took place immediately before and after he was left prone on the turf. "I have tried to think about this and the last thing I remember is the shaking hands before the game started," he added. "I remember the warm-up, I remember all the way from the hotel to the stadium because usually I always take the programme and I read a little bit. I go around the pitch, I want to see what the pitch is looking like, and I did.
"After I remember the warm-up with Silvinho, Carlo and Hilario. The last thing I remember is going out of the dressingroom, ready with the kit. John Terry lost the toss and I had to run to the other side, and that is the last thing I remember. I don't even remember the kick-off.
"The level of support has been fantastic from everyone. I've got letters from every goalkeeper at Portsmouth. I've got one from Ricardo, who plays for Sporting Lisbon, and Shay Given texted me a message. It is brilliant as well because he is injured."
Guardian Service
