Daler Kuzyaev: "The injury is behind me now"

The Zenit and Russia midfielder on his return to the starting lineup and the win over Arsenal Tula. 

Daler, how do you feel about your first start in a while?

Good. I have not played for a long time and am very glad to get back on the pitch again. I played for 70 minutes and am slowly finding my form.

How do you rate the team’s performance?

In the second half, we slowed down a little. We needed to continue the pressure. I should have scored with a chance I had in the first half, then it would have been an easier game.

From the sidelines it seems that your recovery was prolonged, can you tell us about it?

No, the doctors did everything possible to ensure that I returned to the team as soon as possible. It happens and injuries are an unpredictable thing. The most important thing is that everything is now behind me.

The UEFA Champions League is next, how do the team feel ahead of that?

Our aim is to get out of the knockout stages. The group is a good one and quite even, all the teams in it are good and it will not be easy. Especially the first away game.