Petr Cech: Skull injury recovery was the biggest challenge of my career

Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech says overcoming the fractured skull he suffered in 2006 was the biggest challenge of his career.

The Gunners goalkeeper, then playing for Chelsea, was told by some that he would never be able to play football again because of the damage caused.

Cech collided with Reading's Stephen Hunt during a Premier League clash at the Madjeski Stadium.

Hunt was widely criticised for the challenge, in which he says he went for the ball, which left Cech out of action for three months after suffering life-threatening damage.

But despite being told that he should never set foot on a football pitch ever again, Cech says that he never had any doubt that he was going to defy the odds.

“There were a lot of people saying it was probably the end and that I would not play again,” he told Arsenal Player.

“You get so many people telling you that you should take time, you should take the whole year off and build up slowly to get back.

“I wanted to get back playing as this is what I enjoy the most and it was a challenge to prove to everyone that I don't need a whole year. It was a massive challenge for me because there were days when you just feel like it will never happen, it’s not going well, you don't feel well and you think, ‘Ok what am I going to do.’

"But then you had days where all the positive things came back and I was really happy with the way I did it. I enjoyed the rest of the season when I came back because it was kind of a bonus. Nobody expected me to play so I really enjoyed that because I played with less pressure as I was appreciating the fact that I was back.

"It brought a lot of things back into perspective as well. I know that I can do other things and I will probably be able to do different things. But you only discover that then, which is a positive because since then I’ve known that any day it can stop.

“You have to be ready for the plan B or plan C. It’s quite a learning experience."