Spartak Moscow goalkeeper Andriy Dikan is to fly to Germany to have an operation on facial bones broken in a collision with Zenit St. Petersburg forward Alexander Kerzhakov, he told the club website Tuesday.
Dikan suffered a broken cheekbone, a broken and dislocated jaw and a concussion when Kerzhakov's knee smashed into his face during the Muscovites' 2-1 defeat on Saturday.
He returned to the pitch but was substituted ten minutes later, after Kerzhakov scored a penalty past him.
"To be frank, I had hoped that I'd avoid surgery," Dikan was quoted as saying. "But it seems like I'll really need it."
The 34-year-old stopper said he planned to fly to Germany on Monday to go under the knife the following Wednesday.
"It doesn't scare me, the main thing is to return to the pitch as quickly as possible."
The Ukrainian, who joined Spartak from Terek Grozny in 2010, expressed confidence that understudies Artem Rebrov and Nikolai Zabolotny would be worthy replacements.
"I'm sure they'll play so well that the fans won't notice I'm gone," Dikan said.
The two substitute goalkeepers on Tuesday visited Dikan in the Moscow clinic where he is undergoing rehabilitation.
Kerzhakov apologized for the collision, saying it was accidental, and Dikan has reportedly answered that he holds no grudge against the Russia international striker.
Ex-FIFA vice president Vyachelsav Koloskov told RIA Novosti that Kerzhakov could face disciplinary action.
