Christian Bilovar: "I told Bushchan: "Let me play, I can finish"

Dynamo Kyiv defender Kristian Bilovar spoke about his health after the injury he sustained in the recent friendly against Liepaja, the rehabilitation period and the team's physical form.

- How is your health? How are you feeling?

- It's much better now. Yesterday (Friday - ed.) I still had a bad headache and didn't sleep well. I am not in the best shape yet, but I hope to recover quickly from these events.

- Do you remember what happened at the moment you were injured?

- The last thing I remember is that there was a cross from the opponent's flank, I played with my head, and then I woke up and tried to push Zhora Bushchan away from me because I didn't understand what had happened. I told him, "Let me on the pitch, I can finish the game". But after two or three minutes I realised the situation and thanked Zhora for holding me and not letting me go, because, again, I wanted to get on the pitch.

- Have you watched the moment of the collision on video?

- A lot of people asked me about it and advised me to watch it, but, to be honest, I have never watched it.

- You were diagnosed with a concussion, what is the recovery time after it?

- In addition to the concussion, I also have a fairly deep wound, which I had stitches on. Luckily, there are no problems with my head, so the doctor said that as soon as I get the stitches out, I will be able to start working in the general group. This is approximately 10-14 days. When you get injured like this, you start thinking about important things, and I want to say that our injuries on the football field are nothing compared to the injuries of soldiers on the battlefield, because there is a life at stake. And this is the worst thing, when someone can take someone's life away from them.

- When you got injured, you immediately went to the field to watch the match while waiting for the doctors to take you to the hospital. The next day you attended the game against Shkendia, and on Saturday you came to training. Do you feel so drawn to the field?

- I can never sit in one place - nothing can be worse for me. Yesterday I told the team doctor that I would not sit in my room, but would go and watch the game. He asked me to let him know if I felt unwell, but I assured him that everything would be fine. Being with the team is the most important thing for me.

- How did your teammates support you?

- I'm very grateful to the whole team, because both the coaching staff and the players immediately wrote to me, asking how I was feeling, even when I was in hospital. Denis Popov, with whom I live together at the training camp, seems to have been up all night. When I woke up in the middle of the night, he asked me if I was okay. For me, this is an indicator that we have a good team and a friendly team.

- The training camp in Turkey is entering the home stretch. What kind of shape is the team in? What is their physical condition?

- I think we have not yet reached our maximum in physical terms, because we have only recently completed the first part of the training camp, I think we will reach our maximum when the second part of our training comes to an end. Similarly, in terms of the game, you can see that in each match we play different combinations, different line-ups, players act in different positions, sometimes not in their own. I think it will be possible to give some kind of assessment only at the end of the match.

- What would you like to say to the fans who follow the team's training sessions and matches at the training camp?

- I would like to ask them for patience during the training camp. You need to understand that during the preparatory phase we are doing a lot of hard work. It's difficult to be 100% ready in control matches. But in the championship, we understand that we have no right to ask for patience or give us time - we need to achieve results immediately. I also want to wish everyone good health, so that their families and friends are in peace and safety.