Petr Cech has opened up about his time spent on the sidelines for Chelsea due to a skull injury.

Back in 2006, a collision with Reading’s Stephen Hunt left the goalkeeper out of action for three months. The injury has resulted in the 33-year-old having to wear a protective helmet to this day in order to not cause more damage while playing.

Speaking recently, Cech spoke about the roller coaster of emotions an injured player can experience with some days being far better than others.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

Cech’s experience on the outskirts of the squad, a long period of rehabilitation and the general ups and downs, which come with recovery, can actually be hugely beneficial to our current squad.

The amount of players at Arsenal who are either currently injured or have experienced serious, career-changing injuries is huge, and to see a player like Cech who can be sustain something so life threatening and still come through it an even better player is truly inspirational.

It shows that recovery isn’t a straight forward process but it will get better and it doesn’t have to be the end.