Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech has revealed that he was determined to make a return from his skull injury in order to prove that it was not the end of his footballing career.

The former Chelsea goalkeeper suffered a skull fracture from a collision with Reading's Stephen Hunt in 2006 and was subsequently ruled out for three months.

At the time, many felt Cech's career was finished but the Czech Republic international has gone on to prove a lot of people wrong over the ensuing decade.

"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."

The 33-year-old has been sporting his now-famous headgear ever since making his comeback from the injury.